Music Magazine: Front Cover photography

Below are the photos I have taken of my friend Amber, to use for my Music Magazine front cover. I have to decide which one I want to use, and then edit it. I went to different locations, including the beach to take these photos. I asked Amber to do different poses so that all of the photos weren't the same, and I had a choice for which one to use for when it came to deciding. I took the photos on a Sony camera.

Music Magazine: Photography Schedule

This explains how, when and why I took my images for my magazine. I used different cameras and locations for each shot because I wanted a variety and I wanted too see which camera worked best.

Research and Planning: Task 2, Report

Report into target audience:

Pop music:
Audience- Mainly teens or young adults. Both girls and boys. Pop music is probably the most well known genre of music, and is listened to all around the world by many different cultures and ages. 

Rock music:
Audience- Rock's main target audience would be along the lines of 20-50 years of age. Usually men, but sometimes girls.

Rap music:
Audience- Rap music is listened to by many individuals around the world. Rap is defined as poetry. It is listened to by people of different races, genders and ages. Many people associate rap music with African Americans but this is not always the case. Usually within the ages of 13-50.

My genre:

INDIE MUSIC:
Audience- A surprising amount of people listen to indie music. It is a popular choice of music, but not as popular as POP music.

Most, if not all, of the who listen to indie music are hipsters. Hipsters, however, is a fallacious term, since they aren't really following the most popular trends at all. A more appropriate, yet less accepted, term for this type of person is elitist. It is both girls and boys between the ages of 14 and 25.

A small percentage of people who listen to indie music are categorized as scenesters, or scene kids. 

Typical indie concerts have a crowd made up of 65% hipsters who stand in the front drinking beer, 35% scene kids who sit in the back and talk while the band plays.

This has helped me to get a clear understanding of who my target audience is. 

Research and planning: Task 1: Essay

Discuss the representation of people in your chosen genre of music magazine: 
Genre: Indie

I chose the genre of 'Indie' for my magazine. I chose this because it is a genre that appeals to a lot of people, because it is interesting and different. People are so used to seeing the same 'POP' music magazines in shops, so I thought I would do something that people are not used to seeing. There are a few INDIE magazines around at the moment, such as ''INDIE'' and ''jmag.''

Mise-En-Scene
The 'Mise-en-scene' in these two magazines are both very different. ''INDIE'' magazine is very bare and simple, it has a simple photo of one person; it is never more than one. It then has it's title big and bold at the top of the page, with it's tag line positioned directly underneath it. It then has a bar-code in the left corner and a piece of text in the right corner. ''Jmag'' has a very busy front cover, it has different colours and fonts all over the A4 page. It has a group rather than one single person, and the title is positioned behind the heads of the group. They also have their bar-code in the left corner, but they have a lot of cover lines all over the page. Even though both of these magazines have different ''Mise-en-scenes'' they are both indie magazines and it shows that they can be different and still appeal to the same audience. It seems as if ''Jmag'' have made their front cover crazy to fit the band, because the band look a bit mad. Whereas, ''INDIE'' have simplified their magazine to suit the people; because the models they use look simple. This can help me with my magazine.

Representations
"Indie" may include music that is not independently produced, and most independent music artists do not fall into a single, defined musical style or genre and usually create music that can be categorized into other genres. Indie musicians represent a certain image, such as.. 

Florence and the Machine

Indie POP

Jake Bugg

Indie FOLK

As you can see, all indie artists are different. They all represent the same thing (Indie Music), but they are all different. Whereas, in every POP artist looks the same and produce the same kind of music. All INDIE artists look different, and they produce very different types of music. They support an image of ''difference'' and they show their fans and others, that it's okay to be different.

People that listen to 'Indie' music (fans), are also known as ''hipsters.'' They are also different, they don't follow the crowd. As shown by them listening to indie music. The people that listen to INDIE music, usually attend festivals such as..

So I have to take into account when making my magazine, that my target audience like to be different. Therefore my magazine has to be different, and it has to show a range of different indie music that appeals to the audience. After discussing the representations of indie music, I have a clear idea of how my music magazine should be.

Music Magazine: Flat plans

I have designed my flat plans with the best intentions that my magazine will stick to these layouts. If I have to change the layouts when I am making the magazine, I will not change the flat plans. As I have stated these are all only drafts, therefore there is no reason for my magazine having to be identical to the flat plans I have designed.

Below is the finished flat plan draft for my double page spread:

Music Magazine: Flat plans

Below are the draft flat plans for the front cover and contents page:

Front cover:

Contents page:

Music Magazine: Proposal

Who are you aiming your magazine at specifically? 
The genre of my magazine is INDIE, and as soon as you hear the word 'INDIE' teenagers come to mind. Therefore, my magazine is aimed at a target audience of teenage girls ageing from 14 to 19. But I have to take in to account a secondary audience, which will be teenage boys and anybody else who listens to INDIE music and chooses to buy my magazine. I am going to make sure that I do not alienate my secondary audience, so everything I do with my magazine will be aimed at teenage girls mostly but I will not forget my secondary audience. My magazine is going to be diverse.

What will your magazine be about?
My magazine is a music magazine which is going to be based around the genre of INDIE. It is going to be about indie music and a lot of other things that the teen audience will find interesting. Such as:

• Indie music.
• Upcoming gigs and artists.
• Reviews.
• Boys/Girls.
• Instruments.
• Competitions.
• Advise.
• Interviews with celebrities.
• Offers.
• Tours.

What are your ideas for cover lines?
I want my main cover line to be at the top of the page, and I want it to be big and eye-catching so it catches the readers attention. I want it to be funky, in a teen text sort of way; so that it fits with the audience genre of teenagers. I want it to be modern. As for my other cover lines, I would like them to be placed around the page rather than just on the left-side because that is what every magazine does, and my aim for this magazine is for it to be different. And I want a dateline at the bottom right of my front cover. I would like them to be orange and black, but this could change.

What title have you decided on and why?
I have decided on the title 'Infinity' (symbol: ∞), because it refers to something without any limit. And I don't want my magazine to have any limits, I want it to pass the limits and continue, therefore it is infinite. I also think that this title is different and pleasing to the human eye. I was going to use the title 'Elite' but I realised that it didn't have any meaning, and it was unrecognizable. 

What fonts do you want to use?
Below I have attached an image of the different fonts that I may use, I might not end up using these but the one I do use will be very similar; as these are exactly what I want. They are eye-catching. The middle one is my favourite, and the last one is my least favourite.

 How frequently will it be published?
My aim is for my magazine to be published on the 1st of every month. I would like for it to be frequent, and I hope my audience do too. I'm yet to take it into consideration, but I may have a different colour theme every month so that it is always different. 

What kind of image do you expect to put on the front cover and how will you go about getting this image?
The image on the front cover will be of a friend of mine named Amber, who is sixteen; also studying Media. 
My plan is to do her make up and outfit and make her look like a young artist that sings indie music. I will take the photo myself, on my camera; and I am going to put a lot of time and hard work in to the image, because it is the one that everyone will see. I want it to be different and again, eye-catching.

What are the dimensions of your cover?
The dimension of my cover will be a standard A4 page. This is the only thing that I want to be simple, and you can still fit everything on to the page. I do not want it all to be squashed together, as this will make it hard for the audience to see everything.

What images/colour would you use on your contents page?
For my contents page I want to stick with the colour of black for the font, and I want to add some blue. But there will also be the previous colour of orange that I am using on the front cover on different areas of the contents page. As for images, Amber will also make an appearance on the contents page but I will take other photos of different friends of mine who will be dressed as singers, or maybe even bands and these will be on the contents page. 

What are your ideas for a double page spread?
My double page spread will be an interview with Amber; she will be talking about her music, gigs, romance, friends and make up. There will be different photos of her during the interview placed around the page, and her name will be used as the cover line across the first page of the double page spread. There will also be other cover lines for when the subject of the interview changes, so that the audience can chose what they want to read. I will use black for all the font, and an eye-catching colour for the coverlines. I may use some orange and purple on this page because she is girly and confident, and girl teenagers will enjoy this.

Music Magazine: Initial Ideas Mind Map

Ideas for my music magazine:

These are some of my ideas of what I may use in my music magazine, this is only a draft so my music magazine will be different when it is finished and some of these techniques may be used, and others won't.

Target Audience: Representation (Equality and Diversity)

1. How might you ensure you target a secondary audience?

Although my main target audience is aimed at teenage girls ageing from 11 to 17, who are into indie music and upcoming indie bands; I also have to think about a secondary audience that may enjoy reading my magazine. For example: teenage boys, even though my magazine is going to have a lot of feminine images; I am going to include different pages that are aimed at both genders. 

It is important that when I am designing my magazine, that I do not alienate people who the magazine is not aimed at. I am going to add things to the magazine that boys would also enjoy reading, because boys also often listen to indie music. I might also add things that are aimed at an older audience, because I never know who may buy my magazine. Even though in the media it is shown that indie music is aimed at teenagers, and you wouldn't think that an older audience would usually associate with a teen indie magazine; it may be in their interest. 

The images I will use are going to be modern and simple, it will be an image of a teenage girl who sings indie music. The font I choose to use will be modern and you will be able to tell that it is aimed at teenagers, because it will be colourful and eye catching.

2. Consider how the genre is represented?

My magazine is aimed at teenage girls so to show this, I will be using colours which are usually associated with girls. For example: Red and Orange.
But as I have to think about a secondary audience I will also usually colours like Green and Black.
As it is aimed at a teenage audience, the main image is of a teenage girl who sings indie music. I have chosen to use her because by using a teenager, the audience will feel like the magazine is up to date with their age and they will be interested in the music magazine.
My magazine is going to be aimed at all ethnicities and sexualities, and this will be shown in the magazine because their will be images of people within a different sexuality throughout, and singers of different races shown throughout the magazine.