Music Magazine Photos and Inspirations

Colours for the magazine

While deciding what to choose for our colours we both needed to choose different colours as we are doing the same magazine but different editions. Therefore looking back at the magazine front covers in which we researched we analysed the use of colours which are mainly eye catching, therefore we decided on many colours which might suit the different editions which we are doing however we did not pick up a common theme of colours in which pop magazines specifically used to make the magazine cover more appealing to the audience. Therefore we looked at the same magazines different editions in order to see the difference we have to include for our different magazine editions. We found a very common technique which was used in many different magazines that the colours of the magazine front covers where chosen according to the clothes in which the artist on the front cover was wearing. Due to this we decided we will follow this common technique which many major pop magazines used. Therefore I decided that I would make sure I dress my artist for the front cover of the magazine lighter eye-catching colours as these colours would make the magazine more appealing to my audience and it would catch their attention immediately. However we decided that in order to keep our magazine name distinctive we would keep it the same colour throughout both the magazine editions. This is so the name is noticeable and is quite common to the reader in order for them to know the magazine from the name straight away. We decided that the most eye-catching and clear colour we could choose for the magazine name would be black therefore we decided that the magazine name would be black. 

Researching target audience & researching and Choosing fonts

Target audience

Through my research I have been able to build the idea of the target audience which I will be focusing on for my music magazine. Within my research I have noticed a recurring pattern of female singer being on the front page of the magazine. Through this we have decided to use the same for our magazine front cover editions, we have decided that the target audience of the magazine would be both men and women, however mostly women as women are more likely to be interested in contents of a magazine which include celebrity stories and gossip. Even though this is the case men are also interested in pop and music magazines which is why we kept our magazine broad in audience and unisex, we will ensure that it appeals to both genders by including colours which both genders are comfortable and interested in, we will also ensure the content of the magazine is aimed both at males and females. Moreover including a female pop singer on the front cover will appeal to females as they would want to know news about her and about her journey, and it also will appeal to men as they would be interesting in seeing the artist and what she has to offer. Furthermore the ages of our target audience would be from late teen years through to mid 30’s. This is because the magazines in which I have researched all show the same ages of target audience and this is shown through the model which is placed on the front cover of the magazine. In order to convey the target audience of our magazine on the front cover editions we will include content and information or strap lines of famous pop stars which are in the ages of our target audience, in order to grab the attention of our target audience and be able to appeal to them as they will know these pop stars.  

Researching and choosing fonts

















During the process of choosing our main font for the magazine name, we decided to look through other pop magazines and the font of their magazine name in order to gain a deeper idea of what a conventional magazine would be like and what sort of font it would be in. During researching magazine names we came to a conclusion that many pop magazines use a simple font for the name however they use a very bold font in order to make the name stand out and be more appealing to the audience of the magazine. We established through our research that pop magazines use the technique of keeping the name in a simple noticeable font in order to make the name readable and clear to the audience. We then went on to researching different fonts in order to be able to choose a final one for the magazine name effectively. In order to choose one font we had to try many different fonts in order for us to see if the different fonts suit our genre and the magazine style. We ensured in choosing between simplest fonts within Photoshop as we learnt through our research. Furthermore we arrived to a conclusion of still having 6 fonts which we were not able to choose from as we were unsure if these fonts would appeal to our target audience, which is why we decided to carry out a survey in which we will ask people from the magazines target audience to choose which font they prefer the most from the list of fonts in which we provided. From the results we got from the survey in which we carried we chose the font of our magazine name. As the magazines main focus is to grab target audiences attention which means if we go by what the target audience desire as this is what will make the magazine appeal to our audience.

mock ups

Practicing shots

In order to understand different shots which were used within music magazines we looked at some music photography and analysed what the conventions are for these photos, through this we picked out what shots are usually used within music photography and especially in shoots for magazines, we highlighted the aspects of the photo that make it conventional for a music magazine, we then were asked to use the techniques and skills we learnt and take pictures which would be used for music photography. 

This photo would be for bands within the shot I was trying to include depth as the reason in which I included the side of the corridor, it is a mid-shot which is usually used within music photography and magazine as it is very common to show the musicians closely. In this photo I also used the rule of thirds which is why i placed the musicians on the right side of the photo. 

Within this photo I used a low angle to include more depth in the photo, I also used a technique which was quite common through the research in which we done on music photography this was multiple focus, multiple focus usually makes the photo look more unusual and sophisticated which suits music photography. Multiple focus usually makes the viewer see all aspects of the aspects and realise it's depth. 

In this photo I positioned the models right in the middle of the photo as used in some musical photography in order to convey the message that the musicians are the central point of the picture which adds importance to the musicians and shows that they are the central focus.

Schedule

Date	Task
18/01/2012	- Start Production Coursework
20/01/2012	- Start and finish the preliminary task- school magazine
23/01/2012	- Start research – front covers of magazines
25/01/2012	- Continue research- double page spread
27/01/2012	- Continue research- contents pages
30/01/2012	- Finish research- continue with contents page
01/02/2012	- Start planning- view different music photography
03/02/2012	- Continue planning- make music poster
06/02/2012	- Continue planning- work on mock ups
08/02/2012	- Continue planning- work on mock ups
13/02/2012	- Continue planning- work on mock ups
19/02/2012	-Continue planning- work on mock ups
20/02/2012	- Continue planning- work on mock ups
22/02/2012	-Continue planning
24/02/2012	- Finish planning
25/02/2012	-  Start Production
27/02/2012	- Continue production
29/02/2012	- Continue production
02/03/2012	- Continue production
05/03/2012	- Continue production
07/03/2012	- Continue production
09/03/2012	- Continue production