Drafts of Front Cover

First Drafts of Front Cover

Second Drafts of Front Cover

Third Drafts of Front Cover

Magazine Front Cover Mock Ups

These are mock ups I have created of my front cover using images already available on the internet of famous musicians that are in style with the type of magazine I want to create. I created these to experiment with the main conventions of music magazine front covers.

Mock up Number One

Mock up Number Two



Music magazine photo shoot

I took two sets of photographs in my photo shoot: one consisting of an Indie Pop look and the other Indie Rock. The genre I have chosen is Indie but as I did research I realised there were two main types. Therefore when doing my photoshoot I allowed myself to get images that would represent both types: rock and pop. I used a female model as I believed this could attract both genders of my target audience to view my magazine.

This set contains some of the images I took during my 'indie rock' shoot.  

When looking at Indie Rock fashion and celebrities I could see that the clothing worn is mainly dark colours with bold accessories such as hats/ belts. Therefore I followed this convention and dressed my model in white and black. I also experimented with accessories like a trilby hat and headphones. The main item used in these photographs was the red guitar. I used this as it stood out from the clothing and looked like a typical ‘rock’ style instrument. The colour of the guitar also allows the images to stand out and so would hopefully gain people’s attention on the front cover of the magazine.

During my research I found these images on SPIN, a well known rock style music magazine's website. They show fashions of the indie rock genre.

This is an example of an Indie Rock band and their overall look.

This set contains some of the images I took during my 'indie pop' photoshoot.

When looking at Indie Pop fashion and celebrities I felt the style was more of a vintage, country look. I dressed my model in similar clothing but added a flowery head and replaced the black jeans with a skirt. I also used an acoustic guitar in the shots instead of the electric to give a more natural look.


This is an example image I found showing Florence Welsh, an indie pop singer and her clothing.

This set contains images that I took with the props (hat/ headphones/ clapperboard) which could be used for both genres. These images were taken with the intention of using them for the images inside of the magazine (e.g on the contents page or as extra images on the double page spread)

My favourite images from each set:

Slideshow video of some of the images I took:

Choosing my magazine Name/ Logo

Initial Magazine Name Ideas

As I am creating an Indie Style magazine I understand that I need to think of a name that either represents or catches the audiences attention. For example the well known magazine 'Kerrang' was named after the sound of a chord on an electric guitair- this represents their magazine/ audience as it focuses on rock style music.

First Ideas:

I made a mindmap to allow me to think of ideas for the name/ logo of my music magazine. I began by thinking of names that could relate to it's genre of Indie and came up with:

INP (Indie Music News)

MIMN (Monthly Indie Music News)

LIMN (Latest Indie Music News)

However, I did not like these as the words were not easy and catchy to say. I believe that magazines with catchy names are well remembered and so people will be more likely to read them.

Final Idea:

My final idea was to keep the name simple and abbrievate it to 'NIMM' which would stand for 'New Indie Music Magazine'. The word NIMM can be said easily unlike the other ideas I first had. The well known magazine 'NME' inspired me to do this and I think it is quite simple but effective.

Initial Magazine Logo Ideas

Final Magazine Logo

After experimenting with the different logos on drafts of my magazine cover, I decided to use this logo as my final logo. I believed that the simplicity of it allowed the other features of the front cover stand out and not 'look too much'.

I then chose a text for the title of the magazine that I would place underneath the main logo:

1)

2)

3)

I decided that number 3 suited the magazine cover best.

Prices/ publishing of music magazine

Price and Publishing

From researching similar music magazines I have decided to sell my magazine at £2.50 and publish it monthly. This is cheaper than most monthly magazines but will still cover the cost of printing. I am also going to publish my magazine monthly as this is the most common way of publishing and I would be able to include more information in each magazine. As the target audience is quite young (teens to early twenties) this may mean that many of them are not employed or are still in education and therefore they will not have large amounts of money to buy expensive magazines weekly. So, I think that keeping my magazine price down will allow more of my target audience to buy it and create a more successful magazine overall. Another reason for my low price is that most other music magazines are more expensive and when people look at magazines they will usually go for the cheapest price they can get that still accommodates for their needs.

Price/Publishing of Magazines I have researched:

• 'NME' = £2.20 (weekly)
• 'Clash' = £3.80 (monthly)
• 'Q' = £3.50 (monthly)

Target Audience of Music Magazine

Target Audience

 

Age: 15-25


The age of my target audience for my music magazine will be 15-25. From researching and analysing other music magazines of similar style to how I would like to create mine, I have found that the most common target ages are from teen years to early twenties. For example, NME’s average audience age is 25.

Gender: male/female


I believe that my music magazine should target both male and female as indie music is enjoyed by both audiences. By not designing the magazine to suit one gender this should increase in the number sold.

Class: C2/D/E

When looking at social classes I believe that my target audience is mainly the D and E classes. This is as most young people are unemployed due to being in education or further education and only being semiskilled. I believe I am targeting inner directed groups of people as I think that the indie style is quite unique and people who follow its fashion stand out in their own way. However, some of my audience may be outer-directed as they long to be part of the indie style and may follow friends and buy the magazine due to ‘fitting in with the crowd’. 

Music Magazine Analysis 2 Q

Q Magazine Analysis (Prezi)

I have used prezi to present my analysis of 'Q' magazine