Drafting Text / Page Layouts

The image above is what I decided I wanted my front cover to look like. I sketched it out deciding on a sort of preppy, colourful look as a way to push out how I think my magazine is family-orientated.

Before I began to create my feature article I began to think of ideas that I wanted for my first page and what I came up with was this:

For the first page of my three page article I wanted to have a page solely dedicated to an image of Chiles. The image being one to give the article a theme - it let's the reader know what it is straight away.

Shooting / Selecting Images

For my front cover image I had the idea of creating an image that represented isolation. So, I chose to take my picture when the weather was gloomy and had been raining. Down below is a couple examples of photo's that I took:

On the first image I was trying to decide what type of lighting to use: flash or go natural. I also was trying to figure out the angle of the shot.

I chose to go with the natural lighting and this angle but still I didn't like it too much.

This image above was the one that I decided to use for my first version of my magazine. I chose this because I thought it represented the isolation well as it's taken from a distance and looks very dull in colour. However, for my front cover it did not work as the image wasn't the first thing you noticed.

To create my front cover second version I held another photoshoot with a different idea in mind. Instead of doing isolation I wanted to have an image where it showed that something was close to the heart. In the images below my model is holding the guiate close to their heart and on the actual guitar is a heart with the phrase: "Long Live." This is a song that goes well with my features story and so on the guitar I placed it in a position where I think it would be in line with her actual heart. Down below are versions of the image I was trying to create:

On the first image I was working out the lighting and what type of shot I wanted it to actually be.

On this image I'd worked out the lighting and that I wanted it to be a medium shot.

On the final image below I worked out what angle I thought worked best.



Planning / Sketching Images

Before I have taken my real image for my magazine I have been practicing cutting out images on fireworks. For my first attempt I picked an image of a Dog and Walrus - a Dogarus. Below this is the before and after version of my Dogarus:

Before        After  

     

After I had created my cut out image of Dogarus I added a background to it. The background I choose was a snow landscape. The image below is what it turned out like:

Analysing Front Cover Images

The front cover image of NME is set in a supermarket which to me I think is a way of showing off the guys personality a bit: he's shirtless in a place it would be classed as wrong. He doesn't follow rules. He's individual with what he does.

On his forehead there is a cut and I think this is to show that he is somewhat of a psycho as he doesn't really seem to care that he is bleeding, he feels no pain.

In his hand he is holding and squeezing meat and I think this is to show to the viewer that he shouldn't be someone you mess with as he could do this to you without really caring.

Researching And Designing Mastheads

When creating an logo for a brand you need to create something that is recognisable and remeberable. Why? Because it needs to mark it's own identity in the world. Below are four brands in which I have sketched from memory, ones I feel are recogniseable and rememberable:

 

After this I researched a magazine known as The Word and wrote up answers to a series of questions in which tell you what I think the masthead means and symbolises. Down below is what I came up with:

After deciding to take on the genre of country music I began to brainstorm things that I associate with country as a way to help spark of ideas for the masthead of my magazine. The things that I came up with were:

• Tooth Pick
• Big Hair
• Acoustic Guitars
• Cowboy Hats/Boots
• Banjo
• Nashville
• Cows
• Haystacks
• Plectrum

I then began to think of famous country singers and the ones that I came up with were:

• Tim McGraw
• Taylor Swift
• Carrie Underwood
• Dolly Parton
• Keith Urban
• Billy Ray Cyrus
• Olivia Newton John

Once I thought of these famous singers I had an idea of what I wanted do. I wanted to use a song most people would know and could relate to country music but I couldn't think of one that I thought would appeal to all generations and not just a younger audience. The ones I thought could be possible mastheads for my magazine were:

• Teardrops on My Guitar
• Country Roads
• Tim McGraw

After thinking of these and not liking them I decided to try and think of stereotypes most people would instantly recognise as country and some of the mastheads I came up with were:

• Beer & Chevy Trucks
• Nashville Stack
• CowboyBoots & Beer
• Plectrum
• Ukulele

But after awhile I gave up on trying to make a name out of stereotypes because I thought it was to general and made it hard to tell what the magazine was about other than something country. While trying to think of a new angle to take it from I ended up with the song Country Roads going through my head but with a change in the lyrics: Country roads take me home to my heart and soul. Not long after this did I stop trying to find a new angle because I thought it would make a good masthead and tagline. So, I did indeed finally decide on calling it:

Country Roads

take me home to my heart and soul.

When it came to designing my masthead I had a rough idea of what I wanted but actually finding a font or figuring some way I could actually make it was going to be a challenge. At first I decided I wanted my masthead to look like the font had hay coming out of it to try and get across the theme of country. I found a font that looked like it but before creating I already knew it wouldn't look right due to font colours. However down below is a sketch of what I had tried to create:

At the same time of creating my magazines logo I also did an evaluation of my own magazines masthead and what it means and what it symboloises. Down below is what I came up with:

Instead, I found a font called 'Whiskey Town' that reminded me of country. So, I began to design around that. Below are images of three different fonts I made:

I decided that I liked the middle one the best because it had the most design thinking behind it, in my opinion, as I had tried to make it look like a road.

Soon after deciding on what masthead style I wanted to use I figured that the colouring didn't really work and so I changed it to my final design:

For my magazine I have decided on having a sub-genre of country pop. The reason I have decided to have this as my sub-genre is because currently Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Tim McGraw are big, popular country musicians. Their country sub-genre happens to be country pop and so I believe that will appeal to a wider audience range.

Investigating The Conventions of:

Front Covers:

The image below is of Kerrang! music magazine and I have annotated the conventions of a magazine front cover  on it:

Exploring Values / Ideologies of Different Music Magazines

Looking at two magazine websites: NME and Smashhits! I discovered that NME has an interest in politics whereas Smashhits! has none. NME values the history of music whereas Smashhits is more about the fun of music: interactive games and not a lot of information to learn. NME appears to be a magazine that is independent but like Smashhits! it is mainstream as NME is ran by IPC Media. That is a global magazine publishing house. NME appears in a more darker range of colours as if daring to be different while Smashhits! is presented in feminine colours of pinks and purples. Down below are images of the two different websites:



Researching Target Audiences of Different Music Magazines

I also took some time to analyse the audiences magazines aim for and found out that most music ones tend to aim themselves at males of an older age range.

Investigating The Market

In the beginning stages of creating my music magazine I took a trip to WHSmiths to see what type of music magazines they had on their shelves. I wanted to find out what kind of genres there are of music magazines and down below are four examples of music magazines and their front covers:

Preliminary

Before I produced my music magazine I did a mock up of a school, sixth form one in which I produced a real looking front cover and a template of a contents page.

Front Cover Mock Up:

Contents Page Mock Up: