Music Magazine Update: 23/12/14

I have another update for you :)
I decided to add an issue number at the top left and changed the title from "contents" to "this week in...reckless" since it seemed to fit my genre better. I completed all of my cover lines and added little red triangles to indicate page numbers with little captions underneath.

Research and Planning: Contents page additions.

Most contents pages in music magazines include a little note/introduction from the editor of the magazine. So I think I will create one for my magazine.

I have composed my own small letter to the readers to use at the bottom of my contents page:

Hello Reckless Readers, welcome to this weeks issue! Invading the front cover this week is Josh Swindells. On page 10 I got to interview the upcoming star on behalf of his band Honey, getting the inside scoop on what's like to be in a band at such a young age! This kid is going to go far! Also this week the sadness engulfed all of our minds as our favourite Welsh emo-rockers announce their farewell tour. The Reckless office will miss the weird but hilarious being that is of course Sean Smith. Good luck guys for whatever the future holds for you! Don't miss out on next weeks bumper Christmas issue!

Reckless editor,

Stephanie 

Research and Planning: Cover lines and Pages

To help me plan out my magazine contents page I have typed out all of my possible features and dedicated the amount of pages towards the different stories. I then referred to Kerrang! magazines to figure out a way to lay out my magazine cover lines.

Music Magazine Update: 19/12/14

Today I have added more cover lines and changed the order to how they would theoretically be seen in my magazine. I have also separated my cover lines into 3 sections:
Features
Reviews
Regulars

Music Magazine Update: Continued 18/12/14

I have made further progress on my contents page tonight, I have changed a few things regarding text and background colours. I decided to go for a black background so i could use boxes to separate different parts of text and this worked best with a black background and white boxes. I still need to work out the postioning of "This week in Reckless", I am thinking of putting in the style of the slogan on my front cover just to tie the two pages together.

Music magazine Update: 18/12/14

The front cover is finished!

I have started my Contents page by adding the 3 photos I had decided to include, the signature red bar, black and bold "contents" title and a couple of cover lines.

Research and Planning: Magazine slogan

^ This is the Kerrang! slogan...."Life is Loud".

Nowadays I have found that recent issues of Kerrang!, Rock Sound and Alternative Press do not include a slogan, so the example above is an issue that is a couple of years old.

However I thought I should include a slogan to pull my front cover together. 

I found it quite difficult to come up with a slogan that suited by genre, so I eventually came up with "Turn up the volume" which could be used for quite a few different genres especially dance music, but to make the slogan suit my genre I changed the font and distorted the text slightly to match my masthead.

Music Magazine Update: 16/12/14

 My magazine is almost complete, I have two additions to make.
1. I need to add my magazine price just above the barcode.
2. I need to act on my second part of feedback and try adding white/black borders around the poster images.

Music Magazine Update: Acting to feedback

Changing poster pull-out images.

 Moose Blood: Manchester Academy 2, November 14th 2014

Secrets: Manchester Academy, October 31st 2014

I think I will change the image to the first image since the pink lights are similar to the strip of pink running through Josh's t-shirt.

Music Magazine Update: Front cover feedback 15/12/14

For my magazine so far I decided to get some feedback to see if there are any improvements or any themes I could continue throughout the rest of my magazine.

Aisha

From this piece of feedback I have decided to definitely stick with my red black and white theme. My formal layout of cover lines is also something I should continue into my contents page.



Ellie

From this feedback I obtained that my font choice is very appropriate, and alternating colour scheme should progress throughout my magazine. I should possibly try placing white/black borders around my images so that they can stand out more since they all have a similar background, and I will get some extra feedback on this new feature.

Sarah

From this feedback I have noticed that people like my some what sophisticated approach to my magazine so I will keep this through out my contents and double page spread. I am going to act on this feedback and try using a couple of different photos instead of repeating the same model on my front cover.

Research and Planning: Magazine Front cover fonts

I kept my magazine to using only 2 fonts.
Masthead: Zillipeppo
Cover lines: Impact

I chose Zillipeppo for my masthead since it has a hardcore, edgy look around the edges and promotes rock/alternative music.

I chose Impact for my cover lines because it is bold yet simple enough to read but not boring. Impact is a very common font, but this is because its round edges make it very simple to read in lower and upper case.

One of my cover lines includes a competition, so I decided to find a similar font to my masthead and the band logo itself to make this part of the cover line stand out, since more people would be likely to buy the magazine if they could enter a competition.

Research and Planning: Analysis of Photographs

Front Cover Images:

Main Photo:

Josh Swindells















Mini Poster Pull Out Photographs:

Megan Lewin

Rebecca Fenna

James Gwynne

The last photo I am using as a poster pull-out is from the Asking Alexandria gig I went to and corresponds to one of my coverlines on my magazine.
Photo: Band; Secrets
Date: 31st October 2014
Where: Asking Alexandria From Death to Destiny Tour at Manchester Academy.





Contents Page:

My contents page will include 3 photos two of my own photos from my two most recent gigs and another photo of my cover model Josh but showing his care free side.

Top photo: Mallory Knox at Manchester Academy 2
Bottom photo: Asking Alexandria at Manchester Academy.

Josh

I am using this photo as a second introduction to Josh because it shows a funnier and care free side to his character.

Music Magazine Update: 12/12/14

I am very close to finishing my music magazine i need to add a slogan and my price then I will be finished.

Research and Planning: Risk Assessment

Before taking my photos I filled out a risk assessment to show all the problems I may be faced with and solutions as to how to over come them.

Research and Planning: Location Recce

I have filled in a location recce document including the address of my magazine shoot, an overview of where the photos will be taken, a small diagram and key information needed for taking the photographs.

Research and Planning: Cover story band name

My model Josh is in a band himself named Honey and they are inspired by the artists who could be featured in my magazine.

So I asked permission from Josh and the rest of his band to see if it would be suitable to use their band name and create a possible feature on them in my magazine. Luckily they said yes, so my main cover story will be introducing "Honey".

Research and Planning: Front cover image background

For my front cover image I have chosen the one shown above.

Usually in magazines of my genre the artist/model will be looking rebellious and mischevious but since my artist is being introduced for the first time I thought it would be appropriate to get to know the real person behind the big hair and take some more calm and collected photos.

To show that not all magazines of my genre have to have an outrageous cover here are a few examples:

Smiling bands/artists show that not all rock music is hardcore and serious.

Music Magazine Update: 8/12/14

I have finished work on my models hair which means I can now carry on with the rest of my cover, I have started to add cover lines and add my thumbnail sized poster pull out examples along the bottom of the magazine.

Music Magazine Update: 5/12/14

I encountered a few problems when finalising the hair process which is why the bands across the top are not shown, I had to lock and hide layers on Photoshop in order to concentrate entirely on the masthead and hair.

Music Magazine Update: 1/12/14

I made a couple of changes this lesson. I decided I was going have my model behind my masthead, and this meant changing the white background to black and making my masthead white to make it more striking froma distance. I also changed my bands at the top of my front cover so that they fit inside my guide lines and separated by colour and chose Impact as a font since it is bold and sharp. I also used the spot healing tool on Photoshop to get rid of my models redness in his skin.