For my Research & Planning I have carried out my own research into my music magazine and everything that will go towards the creation of my final product.
- Product: My Music Magazine - A new and interesting take on the indie/alternative & acoustic/cover genre conventions through the influence of stars and articles.
- Target Audience: My target audience will be a young audience, very similar to my student magazine, it won't focus too much on only one specific type of music, but explore the genre and it's sub genre to interest a wider audience. Above is an Inspiration 8 IE diagram of my music magazine target audience and what type of things they would expect from a music magazine. By combining both indie and acoustic/cover music I can link it to mainstream followers who like Radio 1's Live Lounge and start to branch out from there. I can also mix the different styles of photography that are stereotyped with those genres and create a fusion of new trendy artists and the stylistic art form of photography to add a more editorial edge. I want to connect to the youth of today's culture by using lots of street shots, by connecting to the constant being out of the house and always thinking about image and how they look. By having the 'artists' on the streets it adds a modern landscape which can be grunged down by editing.
- Proposal: For my music magazine I am going to create a fresh new take on younger more modern music by combining indie and acoustic together, defining the genres with my photography and the type of article I am going to create. The design will be very sleek and aim for the 16-30 bracket. This demographic is more on-the-go, on demand and up-to-date with fashion and how 'image' defines people now. I don't want to go too overly stereotypical, but I am going to use models who have the look of the type of artists my music magazine would feature.
11 Questions about my Proposal:
1. Who are you aiming your magazine at specifically? (There needs to be a clear sense that you are targeting a specific audience)
The 16-24 demographic as they are the largest consumer of magazines and music (especially my chosen genre). They have the most disposable income for 'unneeded luxury items' and are most likely to want to read a magazine about the indie/acoustic genre. They are the largest age bracket at smaller gigs and mic nights for undiscovered artists and use downloads as a source of listen to music.
2. What will your magazine be about? (What might the typical content be?)
Articles about new artists and their journey into fame, interviews with artists who are bringing something new and big, photo shoots with undiscovered artists who need coverage for a break though, gig and festival information, tickets and bookings, concerts and tour details, smaller nights out and free music scenes, new downloads from unknown artists, big star coverage, up close and personal with the musicians, band memorabilia and stuff. Lots of spreads on people int he industry and everything that keeps the fans of the genre up to date with new and old artists and the genre.
3. What are your ideas for cover lines?
I want to use quirky band names to pull readers in and attract them to my individual style of my magazine. I would want anything cheesy that was similar to a slogan, as this doesn't relate to my target audience. I would want to use the interesting article titles and new information about people in the style of profile's to feed their intelligent thirst for in depth coverage of their favourite musicians. I still need to keep to the conventions of making the cover lines exclusive to my issue only and not something they could read just anywhere, but really focus it in on my research from their background and interests. My ideas included things about new bands/rising ones that my readership would want to know about, compared to already published magazines which focus more on the celebrity status of big names, rather than personality. Through researching my target audience I will be able to use names such as Two Door Cinema Club that are making a name for themselves that have the same style as my magazine.
4. What title have you decided on and why? (You could also include examples of titles you have rejected and explain why?
Being half Brazilian I want to have my title in Portuguese as I want something important and significant to me as the editor to reflect a part of me. Incorporating another language would maybe include a larger audience? 'Alto' sounds soft and lyrical and very stereotypical of the genre and acoustic music. It has connotations of 'auto', and gigs sets with the wires and the type of equipment that would be used to record indie music. I wanted something simple that's easy to say and has links to the sounds of the genre.
5. What fonts do you want to use? (You could include examples and if you have got as far as thinking fort he design of the masthead you could include these too)
I will use a serif font to connect to the mature type of music and fans of the genre. It would look good against the monochrome colour scheme, navy or soft indie look. The colours would work well with a more sophisticated and stylish magazine font.
6. What are your ideas for tagline (if you want to use one)?
I will not use one as I want the magazine to speak for itself. I think having a slogan type line with the title will make it too cheesy and won't give it the impression needed to fulfil the genre conventions. I don't want anything that my deface my type of magazine and I think that something catchy doesn't match the gentle music within the magazine.
7. When in the year will it be published? (Cover can reflect seasonal changes or events, consider academic year)
The seasons will affect the 'mood' of the photographs and not reflect the weather, but the connotations of how the people feel during that time of year:
Spring - soft florals and pastel colours, very cute and happy (cheerful/carefree) photos, very sweet and classic colours (sky blues, daisy yellows, pinks and white).
Summer - Festival fashions, outside shoots.
Autumn - Brown and Earth tones, moody and darker photography (shadows and grainy), shots looking out of windows and very bare houses. Jumpers and plain facial expressions. Still and statue like single shots. Record players, bedroom set and calming.
Winter - Very cosy, indoor house shots (wooden floors, kitchen scenes), props such as tea, books, floor shots with scattered objects. Very warm looking.
8. What kind of image do you expect to put on the front cover and how you go about getting this image?
Using a studio for the background and my friend Kiera to pose and look gentle against the background. Maybe black and white, if not then very plain colour scheme that doesn't over crowd the eye. Facial focus, expressionless and thoughtful.
9. How frequently would it be published?
Once a month.
10. What are the dimensions of the cover (magazines are now available in different size formats)?
'Normal' A4 dimension as it doesn't need to worry about travelling around, it needs to feel homely and personal to the audience. Each copy should feel individual to the reader.
11. What images/cover would you use on the contents page?
Lots of different shot sizes that reflect the type of artist and their personality. Needs to look fun and make you want to flick to their pages and find out more about them and what they are promoting. Draws you into them from the photo.
For my research I have looked into how lifestyle has influenced the genre. I have chosen a genre that is more than just about the music, it is about the person as a whole and their background. To help my target audience understanding, for my research I have focused on these various media products as their areas of interest, how that has influence on their music choices and how that can be used for my design work. I have researched a photographer, blogs and social media. These key aspects of their life have aided my choices of design and content to help me meet the expectations of target audience from my knowledge of them as a person and what they want out of a new magazine. Knowing the conventions of how the genre and target audience is represented through these areas of research has shown me how their choice in music reflects this.
1) Holga Photography
- This really helped me relate it to my own work as it showed me the different ways I could capture/edit photographs and how I could make them look more artistic. I really want to represent the type of artists in my magazine through my photographs and these are a good example of how I could do that.
2) Blogs: I also found photography blogs/sites which had lots of images and insight into different types of photography (such as Holga) that I could look into using for my magazine.
- This really helped me relate it to my own work as it showed me how photographers use thier personality as inspirations for their photographs, and how they use things such as the focal points, and rule of thirds to create beautiful imagery. It gave me different ideas for my own photographs.
3) Social Media: I used
tumblr.com to find different ways of capturing people and how you can present photographs to represent different artists and their own individuality and style of work (music).
The five images all show the target audience in different ways.
- The collage style I think would work really well for a female artist or a new band as you could layer the artists to find a new way of presenting each person. So you are collectively grouping them together to show they are a band, however you are giving each of the an identity that makes them each stand out. This allows readers to become fans of not only the band but also individual members. That's what gives bands longevity as they have a specific following of the members.
- The palm trees I think would really suit arty males who are more into the professional look and sound of imagery and journalism. I could use this for my magazine to meet audience expectations by using a professional camera and Adobe photoshop to give them a sleek edit.
- The male wearing glasses would be a cool, fresh way to present a new artist in the magazine. The side profile fulfils the genre conventions of using different angles to show their own style. The light photography imposed over the top incorporates my target demographic's social lifestyle of being new and exciting.
- The girl's unique look is something that is key to indie fans as it represents her personality through visual style, something that I will be focusing on in my magazine to show my understanding on how the music style reflects the readers.
- The girl on the hill is a nice calming image, with calming being associated with indie or acoustic artists or fans. This genre has connotations of 'Englishness' cups of tea, landscapes, artistic edge and being comfortable with yourself. This image represents this idea of being peaceful, something that magazines such as 'WIRE' magazine uses a lot for there profiles of people. This is something I can consider mixing with the picture of the male's side profile to achieve a collage DPS.
- This really helped me relate it to my work by looking at the different colour schemes and how I can help reach a broader audience by using both male and female artists to pull in both genders as readership. All the images are targeted to my target audience, which has made this research of how social media has used their interests as part of the individuals own self reflection a useful tool for trying to attract my readers.
Here is a rough Flat Plan of my Front Cover, it's only a first idea and could change once I have my photographs.
I created an example VoxPop to try some Q&A styled interviewing:
After my extensive research, here is my final mind map of Initial Ideas:
Something I think worked well for my Student Magazine was it's chilled, down-to-earth approach. For any of my 'new up and coming artists' this style of pose I think works really well. I really like the look of this model, so I am going to use this as my stimulus for inspiration. I like the outfit and the co-ordinated makeup, I shall use this technique to make my magazine appear more professional and successful looking. It fits in to my previous magazine work, where the outfit and colour scheme match. I think this sort of photograph has the young spirit my magazine needs to appeal to the target audience. I think will only work with an older looking female and and younger male, these are solo artists type of poses and not something that I think would work for a band.
This Jack Wills Photograph has the fun free spirit I would expect from female artists in my style of magazine. I like the outside style of this photograph. This would work well for a spring/summer issue. I hope to recreate this image of the hair moving like this with my own model. 
