Interview Held with my Demographic

I wasn't 100% happy with my first version of my front cover as I didn't think it was looking like it would be a complete-cover for a pop-magazine, in terms of communicating the genre correctly to the target audience. To try and improve my work I took the step of organizing a structured interview with a small focus group of my demographic.

My interview was with Lucia (16), Rosie (17) and Archie (18).

The first question I asked them was:

"Does the magazine Front Cover represent the artist efficiently?

Archie's response was "I would not be able to tell that she is a pop artist from this front cover, I think this is due to the colour scheme being too formal and not bright and fun, which I think pop should be."

Lucia followed with "Yes I agree with Archie, the models dressed in a glittery dress and her facial expression has a lot of attitude to it, therefore I don't think the front covers and colours match the fun and bubbly personality of the model, which is resulting in the model not seeming to fit in on the front cover."

I then asked:

"Does the layout work?"

Rosie replied "The first thing I look at on a front cover is the photo, therefore I believe that there shouldn't be any writing over her hair or face as it takes attention away from the photo, and also results in the front cover looking messy."

Archie said "I think that also the photo itself could be made bigger so that the models head covers more of the masthead as she looks a bit too low down. However I like the central position of the cover star so I wouldn't change that aspect."

The final question I asked was:

"Does the colour-scheme work?"

Lucia said "I believe that the dark red colour makes the magazine look too harsh for the genre, I think that pop should have a softer tone, maybe a pale pink?

Rosie then followed with "I also don't think that the dark colour works well with the models skin tone and outfit colours, I agree with Lucia and think that a softer colour would look better."

Coverline and Plugs First Drafts

After deciding completely on my masthead, my next aim was to choose my coverline and plugs for the front cover. These two are the start of my first drafts where I decided to keep the same colour font as my masthead, but vary the type of font and the sizes, whilst aslo trying to find appropriate places to place them.

Deciding My Masthead Continued

The next thing I had to do, after choosing my font and colour was to decide what effects to put on it. After going through them all I decided the one that I, personally, thought looked best was the drop shadow effect which made the masthead look slightly 3D, therefore standing out more.

Deciding my Masthead

The first thing I wanted to do when starting to create my front cover (after choosing my photo) was to choose an appropriate font and colour for my masthead. As my target audience who answered suggested, my colour scheme for the magazine was red, white and back. Due to my models hair being dark brown/black I knew it would be a bad idea to also have my masthead black as the writing would be unclear. Therefore I decided my two colours to choose from were red and white (as shown above.) Eventually I decided on the red as I believed it portrayed the genre of a music magazine more, whereas I found the white, with red background, gave the impression that the magazine would be a gossip magazine. However I decided on a slightly darker red than I'd originally planned (original colour is the background of the white masthead) and the reasoning behind this was because it then matched the lipstick of my model which portrays that she is a part of my magazine.

Photo Effects

After my photo was cut around I played around with the brightness, contrast, saturation, exposure, vibrance and colour balance tools, to give my photo different attitudes and to find an effect that's attitude would appeal to my target audience and matched the genre of my magazine.

Sorting Out My Photo

Firstly I chose what photo I wanted to use and placed it onto my photoshop document I had open. Then I clicked ctrl t and shift to evenly enlarge the image to the size I wanted. I then used the magic wand tool to select the background and delete it so just the image I wanted was on my document. Finally I used the burn and eraser tools to neaten the edges.

Double Page Spread Designs

These are the three double page spread designs that I made after receiving the results from my demographic survey. The top and bottom two pictures resemble conventional double page spreads, which have a page of picture and a page of writing, however the middle is slightly different. Although it still has a large main photo its goes along the top half of the page and therefore going across the two pages. I chose the central deign as I liked how it was different, yet still followed conventions, this was also a deign which was inspired by Q. When I take the main photo I would like it to be in a recording studio with all the mise-en-scene in the backgrounds, such as microphones and guitar leads, etc.. I will also have to be careful that my model is far enought to the left of the page that she doesn't even up where the page folds in half.

Contents Page Designs

These are my three contents page ideas I created after doing my research.The left and right ones are more conventional contents pages, and the centre is slightly different, but an idea I liked from Q Magazine. All of them contain a capital 'V' which is the same as the 'V' in the masthead so that the house style will follow on into the contents page. The one on the right has two main columns with the pictures scattered a bit around the page. The centre one is different as it will be a double page contents page so therefore will have 4 columns in total, including a review column. Taking ideas for Q, this deign will have a picture per artist so their will be plenty of photos and a 50:50 devide of writing and pictures, which is what my demographic have asked for in my survey. The final design, left, has an exact 50:50 divide in photos and writing and there are two columns, one for writing, one for pictures. I have decided to choose the central design as I like the idea of a double page contents as much more information can be fitted in and I like the idea of a photo for each artist mentioned.

Front Cover Designs

After doing my research on competitor magazines these are my three draft ideas for my front cover. I based the poses of my model from poses I'd seen celebrities do which worked well and were popular with that magazines demographic. Although my drafts aren't in colour, there are a few splashes of colour on my drafts for a reason. In the middle picture I have coloured in my masthead and the models lips to portray that my models lipstick colour will match the masthead so it will be as though the 'celebrity' is a part of the magazine which I believe will give my magazine a welcoming vibe. I then coloured behind the title on the draft on the left so the colours of that masthead are inverted so I could compare mastheads to see which I preferred, and which one worked best with my genre and demographic survey results.
The design I've chosen is the middle one. The reason for this is because I believe it fit's my demographic survey results perfectly. After looking at competitor magazines I felt that a medium close up was usually the most eye-catching front cover, which is what I want for my front cover as my survey results show that the first thing my target audience will look at on a front cover is my photo. Therefore it was between the second and third models pose. I chose the second as I believed I could get more attitude from the model with it which will grip the reader more. I've placed my models head in front of the masthead as this connotes that my magazine is well established, the reader doesn't need to be able to see all the letters, because they will already know what the magazine is called.

Design Brief

My project brief is to create a magazine product including a front cover, contents page and a double page spread while sticking to conventions of the music genre I have chosen. 
From my survey analysis and my competitor magazine analysis I have created a design brief to guide me in the right direction when creating my product.

• My colour scheme will be red, black and white which are conventional colours to use in magazines and journalism.
• My magazine should be a fun and friendly product with an informative mode of address to express my genre of pop.
• My contents page will have at 50:50 picture:text radio so it appeals to both halves of my demographic, the ones who like visual content and the ones who are passionate about music and want strong information about the artists.
• I will have one cover star who will be a female, I will dress her in a pretty, sparkly dress and she will wear a lot of make-up to express my genre of pop, which is fun and modern.
• I will include a variety of stars and topics in my contents page.
• I will do an interview on my double page spread, probably interviewing my cover star about a new album or a tour.
• I will use at least 4 photos on my contents page as I know a lot of my demographic will prefer visual content.
• My magazine will be neat and organised.
• My magazine will show a passion for music, a knowledge of music and will give its readers all the most up-to-date pop-music gossip.
• I will have a strong feature article photo as my demographic have said that is what they think is the most important feature on a front cover, so I will make sure my model has strong eye contact and a lot of attitude to grip a potential readers attention.

Demographic Survey Results

Second Photoshoot

I held a second photo-shoot with my model as I decided to have a hair, make-up and costume change, as I believe she would be more natural in the recording studio compared to my feature-article photo where she would look more glam as it's for a professional photo shoot. As a lot of these photos are posed candid I wanted her to look as natural as possible. To make her look more natural I gave her plain clothing such as a plain black top (compared to her glittery dress) and straight (natural) hair in contrast to her previous curls. I used less make-up on her and the makeup I did use was more subtle, for instance I used a nude lipstick rather than a dark one like I used before and instead of foundation just applied some highlight to her cheeks to emphasize her natural cheekbone. I wanted photo that showed her having fun whilst making music, but also to have a serious side, as this is her job, therefore I have taken photos of her recording, playing instruments and even producing music on a computer. I took photos from many different angles in order to fund the angle that was perfect to her. I did some exercises with my model in order to make her feel more comfortable when posing for photos which results in my photos looking more realistic, for example in order for her to look like she was really singing we first both sang a song into the microphone together so she could get an idea of what facial expressions she pulls when singing and what body movements she makes and hand gestures she uses.

Photoshoot - Behind the Scenes