Front Cover Development

After adding all the plugs and puffs and final touches. Whilst making the front cover I continued on to emphasise the colour scheme of metallic colours. Also adding plugs on famous artists to engage with the reader. As well as this I added a barcode and price to show the reader how the magazine is at a reasonable price. The entire look is classy and is aligned but fills the negative space successfully.

I progressed a lot in this stage and really focused on the image and the alignment of the magazine. Starting with the image, I ensured that it was engaging, attractive and most importantly appealing for all readers to see. I wanted the blue tie to be the only pop of colour which is bold and pops out at the reader from a far.

To increase the engagement between the reader and the front cover, I ensured myself that I would flaunt the 'Free CD' puff. I did this to simply let readers explore with their musical interests and widen their knowledge on different soul artists. Additionally, this will approach people who are not fully aware of the soul music industry and allow them to expand their interests.

Along the side of the masthead I added several famous soul artists and placed them all together so that the reader can carry on to know that this magazine is including the best features of soul and how the top artists are featuring in this magazine. These memorable artists make the reader familiarise with the magazine and excite them for what they will be reading. Lastly, it will resemble how only the best artists will make it to the magazine and are climbing the ladder to success; using the magazine and its social features. 

I added a puff to label the magazine to clearly highlight that this magazine is the best soul culture magazine in the UK. This entails that it immediately tells the reader how popular this magazine is and how the readers will have high expectations of the magazine.

I then made my masthead. I put the title as 'Vinyl' because it gave a feature of soul and an authentic vibe. I did this in bold black text as it is attractive and engaging for the reader. This also makes the magazine popular as it will be recognisable for the demographic to see on the shelves.

To start off my front cover, I wanted my masthead to have a background to break up the front cover and to show structure. I did this by taking a gold colour and placing it on top of a paint drip effect. I then put a shimmer effect on top of this to accentuate the glam aspect of the genre/magazine.

Feature Article photograph Photoshoot

Whilst taking my Feature Article Photograph's I wanted to make sure the lighting, mis en scene and the subject fitted to my genre of music and looked realistic. Furthermore, the model is portraying different poses and is experimenting with attitudes usually displayed within the soul genre (confident, genuine, sassy etc.). The lighting was important for the feature article photograph as I did not want to portray darkness nor intimidation towards the demographic and was aiming to give off a light, pure image to then aspire the readers and see the artist as a inspirational figure. Lastly, the model's different angles (mid shot angles & eye level angles) show how he is equal with the rest of the population and does not have arrogance or a superior persona.

When carrying out the feature article photograph photo shoot, I altered the lighting just so it would give the friendly effect I was striving for. I used the lights at all angles on my subject to give off a radiant look and to give no messages of darkness. I also used a white back drop to make the images automatically lighter and to also make it easier to cut the subject out using the polygon tool on Photoshop.

I made the model in the feature article photographs wear suited attire to give off a professional vibe but to also show a very dedicated musician whilst at work. This could also mean that he is a well groomed soul artist and keeps his appearance up to standards even when he's not working on music. Lastly, I wanted the models attire to inspire and give inspiration to the readers. Overall the clothing on the model is to encourage the demographic to pursuit their own individual appearance.

I wanted to use a variety of different shots and angles to give the front cover a specific look. From collecting market research the feature article photograph is posed candid and is not coming across too posed due to the busy artist images. Secondly, the angle is a mid shot angle which gives you hints of mis en scene but isn't revealing his whole attire due to the message of mystery still remaining. 

From these shots I tried to give a more serious look to experiment with the image it would give the reader and if in any way it would have connotations of dominance. Secondly, The model sitting down also implies a restless image and how the artist has transitioning career. 

The model seems groomed and does not fail to inspire the readers. When I took these photographs I ensured to use the lighting accordingly to what I wanted the magazine to portray; in this case I strived for the feature article photograph to engage with the readers and to notify them that the magazine Vinyl is a friendly magazine which can be related with by all readers.

Experimenting With Fonts, Sizes and Colours

I briefly wanted to experiment with different fonts and colours to see how i could include variation within my Front cover, Contents page and my Double Page Spread. I also used the gradient tool to experiment with tones and effects to see if it would fit with my house style. 

When experimenting with these fonts, sizes and colours, I strived for the effect of a metallic glow or a blocky black effect. These both can interpret different connotations and potentially convey the typical soul/mo town image for my music magazine.

Double Page Spread Draft

For my Double Page Spread (DPS) i designed two drafts by using Photoshop and sketching them. I firstly, sketched my DPS to give myself a brief template of how a DPS should roughly look like and to also give myself guidance when i then go on to create my DPS. I then used Photoshop to design my second draft. I used Adele as an example artist and also as a way of filling space to see where things would be positioned on a DPS; for example how far down the cover line will come on the page. I also used these two drafts to convey how I want to layout my DPS and what the scale of every feature will be; e.g. how large the main image will take up and where it will be placed on the page - How the article will be aligned in columns around this.

Front Cover Drafts

My front cover drafts represent how a typical conventional front cover should look and what features they need to include. I firstly used Photoshop to complete one of my front cover drafts. I did this to show what tools i would possibly use and where i would place certain features on my front cover. I then completed the second front cover draft by sketching out a rough plan of where certain things should go and how they would have an impact on the entire layout of the front cover. These two drafts are typical representations of a music magazine; in terms of layout, alignment and space.

Contents Page Drafts

When carrying out my Contents pages I considered what my market research required and how I could portray the features through two templates of a Contents page. The sketch of a contents page is showing how things will most likely be laid and/or how it should look to keep the conventional aspect there. The second Contents page draft was completed via Photoshop. I did this to show how a contents page could be displayed visually. I also weaved in aspects which a conventional Contents page would look like and how this would over bring my final Contents page together in terms of techniques and features.

Audience Profile

Design Brief

Based on the primary research I have carried out I have now decided on multiple features of my Soul/Motown music magazine’s Front cover, Contents page and Double Page Spread.

·         The target audience of my Soul magazine is 18-40 and will be both male and female.

·         The colour scheme will be a metallic range of colours including: Gold, Silver, and Copper. The typography will be black and white. The masthead will be either black or white so it will bounce off the array of metallic colours background.

·         The name of my Soul/Motown magazine will be Vinyl. This was the most popular choice from my primary research (survey). I think this name will link in with the authentic mood the magazine will be portraying. Due to the genre of music being debuted through vinyl’s and records. This shows the roots of Soul music.

·         By conducting my market research and looking at over music magazines similar to mine I have decided that the layout of my magazine will be aligned and neat on all of the pages. A neater layout will allow my magazine to have more structure and a positive, upbeat appearance.

·         Large numbers will be the navigation for my contents page and will be larger than the rest of the text. I may also put the large numbers on the pictures to give a clear navigation to the reader where certain articles are. My 18-40 female and male demographic will find this helpful and give the contents page a variety of sizes of typography.

·         For my Double Page Spread will be based on interviews and having the subject from the front cover answering questions about their latest work/albums/gigs/concerts etc.

·         My Double Page Spread also will have a large running head which will take up to a half of the page.

·         The mode of address will be a friendly tone and will engage with the audience in a friend like manor. This was the most popular choice in my research and I believe this will engage with the potential readers the most successfully.

·         The contents page will feature up to 4 people to show diversity and what kind of people are represented throughout Soul/Motown music and also my magazine.

• The feature article photograph will be Posed Candid to show the nonstop movement in Soul music and it correlates to a constant journey. The feature article photograph will also be an eye level angle and a mid-shot angle to correspond the subject’s attire and to give the audience a clear perspective of the Mise En Scene.
• Plugs and Puffs will be on my front cover. The front cover will include many puffs to engage the readers. I will include puffs such as 'CHANCES TO WIN TICKETS TO LONDON'S MOST FAMOUS GIGS'. My puffs/plugs will be presented in an aligned manor and will either be flush left or flush right.

Soul/Magazine Music Magazine Survey Results Analysis

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Magazine Double Page Spread Summary

All the magazines DPS's shared features which brought the conventional aspect and showed how the magazine engages with their audience. Firstly they all used pull out quotes. This shows how the magazine wants their readers to familiarise themselves with the artist featured and make them feel like they are apart of something. This has made me decide that I will use a pull out quote to engage instantly with my demographic. Secondly, they all use a some what large running head to bring excitement to their DPS. I will therefore make my running head large and take up a significant amount of room on the page.

However, the magazines also have differences. Firstly, B&S magazine only uses two images for their DPS which gives a disadvantage to their visual learners. On the other hand, mixmag and Jazzwise use many images to widen the interest for their audience and keep them amused throughout. This makes me want to use multiple images to keep my audience interested. Lastly, Mixmag contains a lot of white space on the first two pages. This is simple but looks like its wasting space which could be used for valuable text/images. This deters me to not do this and to avoid having white space.

Magazine Double Page Spread Analysis'