Drafting and planning

I have created a sample double page spread which has two photographs as the background and the name of the artiste in the foreground. I have tried to find a photo which closely matches the look I would like to go for. I liked the photo because the girl is wearing doc martens which give it that kind of rock edge. Personality is shown through this photo which is something I want to have as a part of mine. 

Research into similar products and drafting and planning

The colour scheme of this magazine is four colours and has been kept very simple and there is a very clear house style.

Drafting and planning

I have been looking on different font websites and seeing which look most effective and which ones suit my artist's name the most. I have come to the conclusion that simpler fonts look best rather than futuristic or extremely decorative fonts as I want my final product to look minimalist.

Drafting and planning

I did some research into flower names as I thought that it would be ironic that I'm doing a rock orientated magazine however the artists has the name of a flower. I also feel that this is very impressionable.

Drafting and planning

I have done some research into potential fonts. There are a range of different fonts which I tried out with the word 'Connect' as I really like this as a name for my magazine following my research into names. I think I prefer the simple serif fonts rather than the more 'techno' looking ones. 

Drafting and planning

Using visual thesaurus I have found alternatives for the words 'link' and 'connect' as I feel that these words would be appropriate for the type of magazine I am looking into creating.  This has given me some ideas as to what my final magazine name will be. 

Research into similar products

These covers of Q magazine are looking very busy and researching into others I can see that Q magazine tends to keep their covers quite busy and full of headlines without any negative space at all. Whereas when I create mine I want it to be less busy and maybe has a specific plan for a set out. On these two covers, where there is no headline there is photograph and vice versa. They have made sure there is always something to draw in the eye.

Research into similar products and drafting and planning

This is the photograph which I feel has made the biggest impact on me in my decision making. I love the use of three simple colours green white and black and the use of this photo on the cover has a monochrome feel as a whole. The cover that this is featured on is not a music magazine so I did some research ont the pop/rock genre to discover that Q magazine covers pop/rock music and this is the genre I want to focus on when creating my cover. 

Research into similar products

The cover of NOTION magazine with Miley Cyrus has strongly influenced me and given me a lot of ideas for my own cover. I feel like the photograph on the cover is really strong and there is a very strong pose which stands out and looks effective. Miley is winking in the photo which lead me into looking at other photographs which have been taken of celebrities winking. I came across i-D magazine which i then realised have branded themselves with the matching masthead and cover star showing only one eye or winking. This has made me want to contain a strong correlation between the masthead and the cover star. I am going to do some work on creating some potential mastheads and see if there is anything which could then be projected onto my photography.

Another i-D magazine cover which I really like and have found influential is this one. I really like the use of black and a contrasting pink. On my magazine cover I don't want to use a lot of colour and really want to use a simple colour scheme. I feel like this as an example of a cover with simple colours. Both of the stars on this cover are still fulfilling i-D's idea of using one eye. Looking at covers of this magazine is making me realise how effective it is and it creates a very strong branding for the magazine as a whole.

Research into similar products

I really like the photography here and the style of the magazine. After seeing this I am going to try and incorporate some of these ideas into my magazine and try and simulate some of the style this product has. There is a very clear house style here and the photography suits the style of the magazine well. 

Research into similar products

Looking at magazine double page spreads I come across this one. I feel like the colour scheme is effective as it is a continuous theme as the fonts match the outfit the star is wearing. However I feel like the layout of this double page spread it quite plain and boring and I wouldn't take inspiration from the layout. I want my double page spread to be a lot more exciting and have different angles and shapes. Things that I will take from this double page spread is the running theme used between outfits and fonts. 

Remake/ remodel task

I have produced an NME cover and therefore all of my choices made are based around the ethos of NME. The photograph I have taken is of two people who I think represent what NME is about well. The target audience of NME is primarily teenagers so I have tried to make sure it has a young feel to it. Readers of the magazine are predominantly male so the colour scheme and theme I have tried to portray try and support this. It was apparent that from doing some research into NME that readers liked to attend concerts as on a majority of covers I found insiders about recent gigs and upcoming concerts. Due to this I contained a little feauture on an 'NME music photography awards' which I saw featured on a previous issue. NME's target audience have been described as 'enthusiasts of new entertainment' therefore by using this it will entice the particular target audience. NME fans know all about brand new hot bands and bands that have existed before so I contained a mixture of both old and new on the cover in the same kind of genre I aimed to achieve as 'The Naughtees' such as 'The XX' and 'Haim'. The colour scheme reflects the usual colours of red and black however I used a light blue which tied in with the PUFF I used at the top of the page to create a house style for this particular cover. For the main headline I used red and grey as it stood out and I wanted the band name to be bold against the rest of the magazine. Red has connotations of danger which could portray this new band as being dangerous and exciting to the audience. The clothes which the band are wearing are not very formal which gives out a sense of recklessness and therefore follows the ethos of NME as it does not usually follow conformity. The whole background is white which allows the fonts to stand out more and gives a more authentic feel. The sub headlines are spread around the page in different areas and are not really following any pattern which is alike to the rest of the NME covers I looked at. The main image uses direct address where both characters are looking straight into the camera and allows the cover to include the audience. The band name is the largest font on the cover which will create an excitement for reader as NME readers are interested in new bands so seeing a large name of a band will attract them. The fonts use will create a brand for them as it is a very different font which will relate to them only and will become very recognizable to readers.