Fonts With Commentary

FONT

For the final product of my music magazine I decided to use 'Moolboran' and 'Myriad Pro' for my text.

I decided to use these styles of text because the 'MoolBoran' is the style of font I used for my masthead and so I thought it would be a good idea to link titles/sell-lines to my masthead, as this is what they do in real life music magazine as it keeps the magazine looking professional and an element of continuity. I used the 'MoolBoran' style font because it looks professional, simple, yet elegant with the curvy letters, and these connotations will match my target audience.

I decided to use the 'Myriad Pro' font for the rest of the text, because it is simple, it isn't over-complicated, and doesn't look childish, which I think would appeal to the target audience. It is also the type of text you would typically see in music magazine, so by choosing this style of font it keeps in
with music magazine conventions.  

The reason why I didn't choose more than two fonts for my music magazine was because I didn't want to over-complicate the magazine as a whole. I wanted it to look professional, neat and appealing to my target audience, because if I'd've had more styles of text it would have look like a child's music magazine and I wanted it to have connotations of professionalism but also inviting to my target audience of people who are interested in undiscovered artists/bands and music.

Whilst creating my music magazine I was still unsure on which text I should use, so decided to put a collection together, and choose which would be the best out of the collection, listing the reasons why it would and wouldn't work.

The reason why I wouldn't use this style of font is     because it is too thick, and it looks more like a child's magazine style font.

The reason why I wouldn't use this font is because it looks too much like a font you would use for a book and doesn't really give the connotations of what my magazine is, however
                                                                        for this style font I like how it is different sizes around the
                                                                        letter, as it would match my masthead.                                                                                          

                               The reason why I didn't choose this is because it too thick
                               and looks too similar to my masthead and for all I want it to
                               have consistency, I want it to look different.

                  The reason why I didn't choose this one was because you
                  can't really understand the text very well, and it doesn't give
                  the connotation that it is in a music magazine.

                                         The reason why I didn't choose this one was because it didn't
                                         didn't look like magazine font. However for this style of text
                                         I did like how it was curvy as it matches my masthead.

      The reason why I didn't choose this style font was because it
      didn't really look like a music magazine style font. However I
      did like how it was curvy in places and was bigger in places
                                                                   of the letter.

Construction of Masthead For My Music Magazine

For my music magazine I took great care in choosing the masthead, as the masthead is what the reader will look at to identify it as being my music magazine. From looking through my research I knew that it needed to be black as most music magazines had black mastheads. I also wanted it to appeal to my target audience so created my masthead so that it looked elegant with curves and soft, however it had mostly straight edges to show that it isn't a children's magazine but a little more formal. With these characteristics it is able to appeal to both 14-21 year olds, as it holds elegant yet informal shapes. I have also coloured in the counters of the letter, as I liked how Billboard magazine incorporates it's house style colours within the masthead which not many other magazines do, and I wanted my magazine to have fluidity and consistency throughout. To create my final masthead I also used the Clone Stamp Tool to join in the gaps for the 'P' and 'R'.

This is my final design for my masthead:

I decided not to use the below design as a masthead needs to be able to stand out against the rest of the other magazines, and this is too skinny to stand out. However I liked the curved edge to the 'R', but it just didn't look like a music magazine text, it looked too formal and more like newspaper text

For the below image I decided not to use as it looked too much like a children's magazine, as from my research I have found that you needed to use skinny text to appeal to the older end of my target audience. However for this design I liked how some of the text was skinny and some was fat, which would make it appeal to 14 year olds and 21 year olds, so I included this part of the design to my final masthead design.

For the below image I decided not to use it as like the first design it was too skinny, however I did like how it looked formal and strong which I incorporated into my final piece as my music magazine is about inspiration and about the confidence to finally make a decision to choose music so this design held these characteristics, but it just looked too simplistic and lacked imagination.



For the 4th design I decided not to use this design for my masthead as it looked too similar to Vogue or Elle magazine, which I didn't want my music magazine to get confused with. Also for Vogue magazine their target audience is 20-30's and my target audience is for teens-young adults. I also didn't want to use this design as my music magazine is about inspiration, and is stripped back to just music and Vogue and Elle are more fashion based.

For the 5th design I decided not to use this design as it may hold characteristics that I like: skinny and  curvy, however it still resembled a newspaper text so I decided to look for a bolder design with these characteristics

For my 6th design I again decided not to use this design as it held most of the characteristics I likes as it was curvy in places, straight in place, fat and skinny, however unlike my final design for my masthead it didn't have a curvy 'R', which I liked as it looks simple yet elegant, plus while I was thinking of what design I wanted I wanted it to look like someone had wrote it, so that my masthead had a personal quality to it and this is what this design lacked.

The Conventions, the Producer and the Target Audience of My Text

The Conventions, the producer and target audience of my text

Conventions

The conventions for my colour that I am planning to use for my music magazine will be that they keep to my colour palette; red, black, white and blue. I have done this as when I was doing my research of music magazines I found that red, black and white were the three main colours used throughout the music magazine genre that I looked at. I also found that they use this colour palette for their masthead as they mostly always use red, black and white. I have used blue in mine as for the Billboard masthead they have put colours into the counters of the letters (inside the ‘P’ and ‘R’), and I liked how it was simple, yet creative, whilst still being able to keep the colour scheme conventions. I have used these four colours (red, black, blue and white) throughout my music magazine to keep continuity, my house style, to my colour palette and because in real life music magazines they choose 3-4 main colours use it for their masthead then continue these 3-4 throughout the magazine by using it in their fonts and images. For my front cover image I have kept to the conventions as I have found that in doing my research they usually use a medium close, so readers are drawn to the music magazine. Also from doing my survey questions on Survey Monkey I found that 45.5% wouldn’t buy a music magazine if they didn’t recognize the person or people on it so I decided to use for my main sell-line and main image I would simulate a well-known artist to ensure that it appeals to the target audience. For my Contents Page I will use a long shot, as it will pull the reader into the magazine so that they will have to look closer into the magazine to distinguish who are in the images. I will also use another, smaller image for the Contents Page as in NME magazine they are telling the reader to subscribe to the magazine, using an image of another of their magazines. I have chosen to do this as my idea for my magazine isn’t that you are looking for artists/bands specifically but looking for undiscovered artists, which there will always be a market for as I found in doing my research 54.5% would subscribe to a music magazine that was specifically designed to showcase undiscovered artists/bands as it ‘provide people with a different kind of music that they like’ For my Double Page Spread I am planning on using a long shot on the right page of the double page spread as I have found that when doing my research many real life music magazines do this. I also found that when I was doing student analysis that they used one page for text and the other page for a main image, which suggests to the reader that it won’t be too detailer or descriptive, however there will still be enough text to draw the readers in. For my textual elements I will try to keep my text as inspirational as possible, whilst still keeping it simplistic yet an element of complexity as it need to appeal to a wide target audience of 14-21 year olds. For my titles I am planning on using pull quotes as it draws readers into the text as it makes them want out know why the artist/band said that. I also found that they tend to use this in many music magazines to draw readers in like in NME magazine. For my font style I will use a simple style as it will be easier for the audience to read, also it will look/have a similarity to my masthead so it has an element of continuity, makes it look professional and keep into my house style.

 Producer

Future Publishing or Bauer Media Group would probably produce and distribute my magazine to the ‘real world’. I believe they would, as Future Publishing is an institution that I have researched to be ‘specialist publications’ and my magazine isn’t really a typical music magazine you would see. I also thought that Bauer Media Group would be a good institution to publish and distribute my music magazine, as for all it isn’t based in Britain, however it would make my music magazine become internationally liked as it would be bands/artist from different genres of music and countries so as to get a wider audience of readers. For all this is not a typical idea for a music magazine I believe that this would appeal to my specified target audience (14-21 years old) as there is already an existing market/audience out there who are trying to find undiscovered artists. I found this out when I was doing my research when I asked ‘Do you look for undiscovered artists/bands?’ 63.6% of them replied that they did, however found it usually online like Youtube, which made me decide that on my music magazine I needed to have a page/ article, which was where you could find undiscovered bands/artists, whilst still linking it to my magazine. From this I also found that I may need to take my magazine to the internet (a digital addition). will use the internet as my media platform as many of my target audience will usually find undiscovered artists/bands from websites like Youtube, so it would be a good way to get my target audience from that site to mine as they may find undiscovered artists there, but on my digital magazine and website they will find out more about the artist/band and about other artists/bands who they haven’t discovered yet.

Target Audience

My target audience is female 14-21 year olds specifically, however males may also be interested in the idea of a music magazine, which will have the up-and-coming artists, where they will be interviewed and commented on by the magazine and a link where the audience can comment on the article/artist/band. It won’t be like any other magazine as it will be for artists and bands who haven’t made it by competing in a talent show but progressing because of their own determination that will inspire my target audience. This idea of my target audience has also been baked up, as when I did my audience research they said ‘young adults + teenagers who are aspiring musical artists’, and ‘probably younger people, 21 and under maybe’. My target audience characteristic behaviours would be someone who looks for undiscovered artists and possibly someone who is looking for an inspiration to get deeper into music, whether that’s just them wanting to listen to people who got into music without the aid of talent shows or just wanting to listen to non-niche music or wanting to take a career in music. My target audience may like to magazines off the shelf, but may also want to get it digitally, so I will make it so that you can get it off the internet. My target audience would be into socializing, they may like social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter, but may like to just find the bands/artists they like and talk to their friends about it.

Photoshop Planning

Media Production

Photo shoot planning document

What emotional impact do you want your photography do have upon the reader? How?

For my photographs I want the emotional impact to be one of inspiration and admiration. To do this I will have my models looking fierce, strong, however still friendly.

What personnel do you need? Who are you going to photograph?

I will have 2 female models for my music magazine, using different lengths of shots and different clothing so it doesn’t look as though you have used the same image and make it look as though the images have purpose and not rushed.

What props will you need?

I will need to use a chair as a prop for my music magazine photographs, as they will be sitting down to show intimacy, for some of the photos so the audience don’t feel intimidated.

How are you going to emphasise colour?

For my photographs I will ask my models to wear colours, which fit in with my colour scheme, and try to keep away from other colours, as it won’t look as professional. I will also use red, as it will make parts of the model stand out against the rest of the images and text.

Have you briefed your personnel/models?

I have told my model when and where to meet me, how to style their hairs, what make-up to wear, what clothes and shoes to wear and other accessories they may need.

What lighting will you need? Any other equipment?

I will need to use a high/medium key lighting, so you would be able to see the model, and use a light to create a spotlight effect (placing the camera at the correct angle to get the light to be around the model). This will frame the model and help to keep the readers attention on the images and away from the text.  

Where will you shoot? Will you need a backdrop?

I will shoot my photographs in an inside location so I wouldn’t have to deal with weather conditions, also in an indoor location, I could change the lighting to suit my needs.

Make-up? Costume?

For my models I will get them to have little, if any makeup, so that it looks natural. By doing this it will make it more of a magazine of inspiration, rather than a cosmetic/fashion magazine. For my costumes I will get my models to wear colours which go with my colour scheme, so it will stand out against the text, however it will look professional, keep to my house style and have an element of continuity. 

The Recce

the ‘recce’

1.    Are there any potential hazards that could pose a health and safety risk where your photo shoot will take place (trailing cables/traffic/other objects)?

There could be a potential for the models to trip on camera equipment and/or props that are being used.

2.    What will you do to ensure these risks are minimised?

I will keep the camera equipment and props off the floor or out of the way of my models.

3.    Will the time of day/weather affect the outcome of the photos? Have you allowed for this?

Time of day may effect the lighting as I would have to put on a light on to substitute for natural lighting, however I could do the shoot at a time of day where the lighting would look natural and I could have other lighting equipment in case this happens.

4.    Have you considered the background to your photos, particularly if taken outside? How will you ensure you will get the background you want?

For my background I have considered of the possibility of the background ruining my photograph, so I have decided to have a plain background so it, will be easy edit.

5.    Have you considered lighting? What about the ‘problems’ of natural lighting, either outside, or streaming through a window? Will you need to use a flash? Have you considered reflective objects that might spoil the effect?

I have considered the lighting and I may have a problem for natural lighting, however I will arrange my shoot at the time of day the sun is best. I will also have other lighting equipment to substitute for the natural lighting.

6.    Do you need permission to take photos in the place/venue you have in mind?

I didn’t need to ask for permission to take photographs in the place I have in mind.

7.    Do you need to book time in a room (eg the photography studio at Shiney)?

No, as I was using my own facilities.

8.    Are other people/crowds likely to be an issue for you? What have you done to ensure that it will not spoil the effect?

To ensure that there aren’t other people in my shot so as not to spoil the effect, I will inform others of when the shoot was taking place.

9.    Are you reliant on lifts/props/friends’ equipment/models? How have you planned that these things will come together at the appointed time? Plan B?

I will be using my own lighting equipment, props, however I am relying on the model to bring costumes, so that it will fit the model, as it will be their own. For my Plan B I will have my own costumes so that they will be able to change into them if needed.  

10. Finally, have you thought of every eventuality…?

I have thought of lighting, props, models not turning up (have other models ready for the shoot), and if there is something that I haven’t accounted for I will arrange for another shoot, or go and get the thing I need to carry on the shoot. 

Front Cover, Contents and Double Page Spreads Flat Plan with Rationale

Colour Usage: For my masthead I have decided to use black for the text then for counter (inside of the 'P' and 'R') I have decided to change it to red and blue as I liked the idea when I seen Billboard magazine do it for their counter. I will have a plain white/plain background as this is what they usually do in music magazines so as not to draw your eyes away from the image or text. I am using a limited colour palette; red, black, blue and white so it isn't too over the top and as it is for young adults it needs to be kept to bold, basic colours. I will mostly use red, as it appeals mostly to women, however it can still be liked by men, just like my magazines target audience. I have also used these colours as music magazines generally tend to use black, red and white for their colour palettes.
Image Usage: I wil be using a medium close up. My model will be smiling with red lipstick on as it will keep in with my colour palette and it will make her stand out against the rest of the front cover. It also has connotations as my model will seem inviting and open to the audience. It also has connotations of it being personal/intimate as it is a close up image of my model, so it will give connotations that the article of her will be personal/intimate. However she will also have a strong/tough expression which will give a linker age/anchorage to the text as it will be a pull quote on her journey to fame.
Text Usage: My text will be informal as it will be for young adults, so it would need to be simplistic for them to understand and not too elaborate or formal as they may feel intimidated. Will use artist/band names as it draws the reader into the text, as they will want to know why the artists/bands are in the magazine, and what the magazine says about them, which makes them want to buy the magazine for the articles. For the front it will have sell-lines and a masthead as this is what usually makes up a music magazine. It is also simplistic, which gives connotations of it being for a older, more sophisticated audience.
Layout and Font: My fonts will be quite simplistic and will look quite similar to my masthead as it will give it a professional look to it, because if you use too many fonts it may look amateur and like a child's magazine. My sell-lines won't be placed in elements of diagonals as it gives connotations of a more child-like magazine and I want my magazine to have a more grown-up connotation as it is an inspirational magazine that will inspire people to get more involved into music. The key focal points within the text will be the main sell-line as it will anchor the image and these are things that will be the main selling point for the magazine. To create this effect I have put the masthead at the top, the sell-lines down the left hand side and the bar code and essential information at the bottom right to frame the main image and main sell-line.

Colour Usage: I have decided to use black for the text so that it gives the magazine a house style, makes it flow and look professional. I will have a plain background as this is what they do usually in music magazines so as not to draw your eyes away from the image or text. It also means that it gives the magazine a house style so that when the audience turn the page, they know that it will be the same magazine as it has the same colour palette and layout style. I am again using red, black, white and blue so it gives the magazine consistency. I will use red as the main colour, however for the main body of the text it will mostly be black as this is what they use in music magazines, however some of the text will be red, blue and white as it will make you draw your eye to certain areas of the contents page.
Image Usage: For my contents page I will use a long shot, as this is what they usually use for a music magazine and it will have a blurred background as it allows the audience to focus on the person/people in the image. It gives the connotations of that the audience needs to look at the image as they need to get close up to distinguish the artist/band in the image. It also gives connotations of confidence as it suggests that they don't have the need to be up-close to the audience, that the audience will find them on their own. This is done to show that if the person/people in the image has confidence in themselves so can you.
Text Usage: My text will be informal, and the words will have denotations and connotations of something positive but most importantly words which will inspire the audience to become motivated and involved in music. There will be still some teasers/enigma codes alongside artist/band names as it will entice the reader to want to read on. I will also use a headline, a masthead and cover lines as these are the main conventions of what you need to include in a music magazine. The image for the coverlines will have linkage to the text.
Layout and Font: I will again use simplistic fonts and fonts that are similar to my magazine as it will give it consistency to my magazine. I won't use diagonals for my text as I want my magazine to look simple yet sophisticated. I will use lines as it will frame the main image, splits the page up and makes you focus on the main image. The contents will be simplistic as it won't have too many things happening on the page, so it make it look professional and sophisticated, however, the text and images that I do use will be positive, inspirational and will make the reader want to turn the page.

Colour Usage: For my double page spread i will use red, black, blue and white as it is my house style for my magazine, which will give it consistency and will allow my audience know that these two pages are from my magazine. The connotations for the colours I use will be that it is powerful (as I use bold colours), that it could appeal to both genders and the red gives it a passion (for music),  danger as getting into music is a risk but when it pays off, it is good and determination (to follow your dreams). The black gives the magazines the connotations of the unknown (as the bands/artists are unknown), authority, strength and elegance. I used these colours as they are usually used in music magazines and when they are put together they give a good contrast of colours.

Image Usage: I will only use one image because my magazine is all about being simple, which gives the reader the thought that things are going to be simple. I also only use one image as the text will be the main focus, where I will give inspirational, positive pull quotes that will give off a positive energy, whilst the image is just emphasising this fact. 

Text usage: My text will be informal as interviews are usually informal, when you are talking to people as it makes people in the interview feel relaxed. However it will also be serious as this is where must of the inspirational pull quotes will come from as this is will show exactly what my magazine is all about: inspiring young adults to get into music and showing the achievements and benefits to choosing this career choice. 

Layout and Font: I will use the same style fonts as my masthead and the rest of my magazine as it will give the magazine consistency as this is my house style which will show the audience that this double page spread is from my music magazine. The pull quotes, pull the reader in to make them want to know why they said what they did. I have also put the image on the right page and the text on the left page as this is what they do in music magazines, also when it is done this way, it makes the magazine look uncluttered. The image is emphasising the text, however the main focus is on the pull quotes. 

Audience Research and Analysis of Data

Before I created my music magazine I needed to know that the magazine that I was creating was going to appeal to my target audience so i went on SurveyMonkey and created a survey, which asked questions which would help me define who my target audience was and what they would like, the questions and analysis can be seen below.

For this question the majority of people who answered my survey was 14-16 year olds.

For this question the majority of people who answered my survey were females.

From this question I found that over half of the people I surveyed don't read music magazines and that only 1 person read a music magazine 3 times a month.

From this question I found that 54.5% of the people I surveyed, would buy a music magazine if they didn't recognise the person/people on the magazines front cover. I found that most who would buy the magazine would do it just to find out what genre of music the artists/bands were and what held the 45.5% back was that they didn't know if they liked the artists/bands. To make the 45.5% of people who wouldn't buy the magazine, want to buy this magazine, I could put on who I would compare my artists/bands to, so that they knew what genre the artists/bands were from and could determine if they liked them or not. I could also put in my music magazine other artists/bands alongside the undiscovered artists/bands, so that my music magazine would appeal to the existing fans of the discovered artists/bands.

From this question I found that 2/3's of the people I surveyed would subscribe to a music magazine that showcased undiscovered artists/bands, because it 'Gives new artists a chance to showcase themselves', however 1/3 of the people I asked said that they wouldn't subscribe as they 'needed to hear them first, otherwise I might be wasting my money. To make the 1/3 of people I surveyed want to subscribe to my music magazine I could make a link that allows them to listen to the person/people who are in my music magazine at the time, which makes them able to listen to the artists/bands and decide for themselves if they like it or not. 

From this question I found that in my music magazine my target audience would generally like to have more than one genre as 'If there is only one music genre it narrows the range of undiscovered artists you will hear about.' To interpret this answer into my music magazine I will put in artists from different music genres, so it appeals to my target audience.

From this question I found from the people I surveyed, they would like to have an interview or review of the undiscovered artist/band, which they want to contain 'new album releases/ promotional tours/single charts', which shows that my target audience will want information that will keep up to date with undiscovered artists and also they want it to include 'what their background is and maybe some interesting facts about the band or artist', which suggests that they want to know the band/artist in detail, from the beginning of their career up until now and what they are planning in the future. To interpret this into my magazine my double page spread will include an interview of an undiscovered artist/band that will contain background, present and future notes about them.

From this question I found that 63.6% of people do look for undiscovered artists, which suggests that my music magazine does have a market. However I found that many people today are finding these people online or on the television, which suggests that I may need to link my music magazine to a website, where people can find undiscovered bands/artists. 

From this question I found that from the people I surveyed (who are my target audience), that people would pay for a music magazine that is specifically designed to showcase undiscovered artists/bands and inspire people to be more involved and have a career in music would usually pay around £1, but some would pay up to £6. This meant that I could sell a magazine, that people wanted buy for a price that was the same as a normal music magazine, which had on artists that had been discovered. This showed me that not only is there a market for this type of magazine, that people will pay for it but that it could go up against normal magazines like 'Billboard' magazine, which could sell for the same price, if not more.

For this question the majority of people who answered my survey were 14-16 year olds, and they said that they would buy my music magazine, and that people people above their age range would too. This suggests that my music magazine could have a wide age range as it could appeal to 14 year olds, just as good as 21 year olds. However, just like my target audience estimation, they agreed that it should be for young adults (14-21 year olds).

Overall; I have found from doing this survey as a whole is that many people have different opinions on what they like or dislike in my music magazine. So to solve this problem I could have a space in my music magazine where it shows a website link where the readers can post comments on what they like about the magazine, what they disliked about the magazine, what they would like to see more or less of and a space to show who the audience have discovered, which the magazine hasn't talked about yet. By doing this I am allowing my audience decide what they want to read, which makes it more appealable to the target audience as the magazine won't ever stay still, but will ever be changing to suit the target audience, who are also ever changing.