Contents Page First Draft

This is my first draft of my contents page. I have purposely used the three colour rule to make it look realistic and also for it to resemble my front cover page; this is important because my contents page has to match the front cover for the magazine to look proffesional. Also, I have laid out my contents page in a similar way to my cover page as I have inserted a yellow bar strip along the bottom. Another decision that I have made is to add a short message to my 'audience'; the reason I have done this is partly because (through my research) I have seen other magazines which do this, but also because I think it adds something a little unique to my magazine as opposed to other students. Another element of my contents page is the 'inside this week' box. I have included this as a efficient way of showing the audience what articles/cover lines are in this issue; I have made it a little more developed by making the 'exclusive' articles pink, whereas the usual articles such as 'fashion tips etc.' are in black.

Fourth Draft of Magazine

This is my fourth draft. It is a lot different to my other drafts because I have changed/added a lot of things.
Firstly, I have added a yellow circle shape in the 'centre' of the page and made the font warped so that it doubly stands out. The reason that I have done this is because I want to make my double page spread story special on the front cover; I think that when my audience see this yellow circle, they will immediately know that it is a very important part of this particular edition of the magazine.

Research and Planning: Social Networking Feedback

From this feedback I am confident that 'HOT IN POP' is a good choice of name for my pop music magazine.

Third Draft of My Magazine

I have edited the bar strip along the bottom to make it more informal and therefore more appealing to a younger audience. Also, I have took more photographs to bring a fashion element to my magazine - as you can see I have put an image of a female model in a Christmas Jumper and wrote 'WIN THIS JUMPER' above it. I think this makes my magazine look more realistic and also more Christmasy which is what I am aiming for due to the fact that my magazine is a special Christmas edition. 

Progression of My Magazine

This is my second draft, I have made changes to my initial draft by adding a yellow bar strip along the bottom (this is a common theme in pop music magazines) and therefore I have added it for realism purposes.

My First Draft of Magazine

Research and Planning: Production Documents

Research and Planning: Sans-serif v Serif

I have looked at the difference between each font and I have discovered that on my double-page spread I must have the font as Serif as it is a lot easier to read for the audience of my magazine; it is practically a rule in magazine making.
Also, I have found out that the rest of my choices of fonts for the magazine can be sans-serif, but for my articles etc it must be serif as it must look sophisticated and professional.

Research and Planning: My Double Page Spread

I am thinking of having my double page spread as an interview with my model and also make it an exclusive interview as 'Mia' will be pretending to be the new 'next big thing' in pop music. I am going to have 3 images of my model (different places on the double page). 

A brief draft of this: 

Interviewer: Since the X Factor Final, your life has changed completely hasn't it Mia? 

Mia: Gosh, yes. I am so thrilled, it feels like a dream. 

Interviewer: What was the best thing about partaking in the X Factor for you?

Mia: So many things. I think what was the most humbling and therefore the best would be when I sang with One Direction in the final - they are all so kind and encouraged me so much...

Interviewer: Are you still in contact with One Direction?

Mia: We speak a few times. I recently attended one of their shows at the O2 arena in London which was fantastic! They are lovely boys, I am a big fan of theirs.

Interviewer: In various interviews that you have done, which you also spoke about a lot on the X Factor, was the bullying that you used to be subjected to. Do you think that has shaped you better as a performer in any way?

Mia: It was a time in my life that taught me so many things. I think I learnt a lot about how strong I can be and how I can get through certain situations...In this profession which is so public and intense, on social media sites I constantly see people who are purposely trying to get me down and make me want to quit; I think that, without my experiences at school, I wouldn't cope with it as well as I do now. It definitely gave me a thicker skin.

Interviewer: You have many young fans that attend school...do you have any advice for some of those fans that may be going through bullying?

Mia:

Research and Planning: Double Page Spread - Language

I am going to examine the difference between a typical pop music magazine double spread and a rock/indie magazine double spread:

Immediately we can see that the mise-en-scene is completely different; the background behind the artist in the pop magazine is light and warm-looking, although when we compare that to the rock/indie magazine it is only a white canvas. 
Also, the artists makeup and costumes are practically opposites; Pixie Lott is wearing a girly dress whereas Lilly Allen is wearing a checkered red shirt and her makeup is heavily dark and gothic. 
Another key contrast between the two double spread is that the pop magazine is a lot more calm looking and not bold nor extreme. However, observing the rock/indie magazine we can see bold, messy lettering to emphasise the extremity of rock/indie music.
The nature of the articles themselves are clearly different - the title of the articles are different; the pop music one says 'How perfect is Pixie?' which immediately tells us that it is a lighthearted article praising the artist. On the other hand, 'People think I'm an attention seeker but I'm just honest…' is entirely different as it insinuates that the artist is quite rebellious and nothing like Pixie Lott.
I have also noticed that on the pop magazine there are more images of the artist (3) than there is on the rock/indie one (1).

Research and Planning: Double Page Spread Initial Ideas

I could potentially successfully create any of the following:

1. Interview
2. Gossip
3. Event Fashion Article; 'What was worn at the Grammy Awards this weekend?
4. Photo shoot with brief interview
5. Festival Article

Research and Planning: DLSR Test Shots with Evaluation

WITH FLASH

WITHOUT FLASH

WITH FLASH

WITHOUT FLASH

WITH FLASH

WITHOUT FLASH

WITH FLASH

WITHOUT FLASH

WITH FLASH

WITHOUT FLASH

It is clear that by looking at the differences between flash and non-flash that the quality of the images changing depending whether flash is on or not. I have noticed that when a photograph is taken outside, the quality is much better when the setting of the camera is flash off. However, when taking close-up photographs outside, the quality is better with flash on. For example, the close-up of the flower, in my opinion, looks much nicer with flash, whereas my photograph of a person is better without flash. 

Research and Planning: Plan for the Week

This week I am going to complete certain tasks, these will be: 

1) Double Page Spread Initial Ideas - a brief draft?
2) Model Test Shots
3) Model consent form signed

Research and Planning: What costumes/outfits should my model be wearing?

Due to the fact that my magazine is aimed at young girls, I think that the outfit for my model should be similar to what young teens wear, but also I think it is highly important that the outfit is suitable and sensible for young girls to look up to for what they wish to wear; for example revealing clothes would be a major NO.

Research and Planning: What types of mise-en-scene is associated with my genre?

The setting is usually a blank canvas to make the artist stand out on the front cover. Also, props would usually be microphones/headphones. Makeup would be feminine and 'cute'. Facial expressions/Body Language would be friendly and happy. Costumes would be young and relatable to the latest fashion trends.

Research and Planning: What look does my model need to have?

My model needs to look very 'girly' so that young teenage girls can relate to her. My model will have to look friendly and welcoming, and because of this I will make sure that she is smiling.

Research and Planning: What artists would I associate with my genre?

I would associate artists such as Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Jessie J, Miley Cyrus, and many others to my genre as they are all aimed at young teenage girls and sing pop songs.

Research and Planning: Publication Plan

Name: The name of my pop music magazine will be 'HOT IN POP'.


Price: I am going to price my magazine at a price of £2.00


Positioning Statement: My selling line will be 'the hottest source of everything pop'.


Distribution: I will distribute my magazine in supermarkets such as Asda and Tesco. I have a  very large number of target audience and therefore it is more sensible to sell it in supermarkets as they are obviously the most popular; it will be easy for my audience to access my magazine.


Frequency of Publication: Through my research I have found that most pop music magazines are sold weekly, and therefore, for realism purposes, I will do this also.


Rationale: The purpose of my magazine is to attract the readers attention so that they want to buy it weekly for the latest news, gossip, fashion and exclusives.


Style/Layout/Colour: My audience is young teenage girls, and therefore the colours will be light (pink, yellow, light green). However the layout will be semi-sophisticated as it is still a published magazine and has to look professional.


Regular Content: My regular content will include a weekly fashion tips, reviews of released music singles, tour dates and also a gossip article.


Featured Content: I will place competitions in this section, as the prizes will be spectacular and therefore rare so they will not be in my magazine weekly which is why they are featured. Also, I will have featured interviews with pop artists.

Research and Planning: Publication Plan Research

Name: I have looked at many different pop magazines and noticed that all of the masthead names are short and sum up the magazine; such as, 'Top of the Pops' and 'We Love Pop'.

Price: Due to the fact that my magazine shall be sold weekly, I have noticed that many of the same type of magazines as my own are at the selling price of £2.00-£2.50.

Positioning Statement: I have looked at pop music magazines and observed that many of the 'selling lines' sum up the magazine in one simple sentence i.e. 'Everything you need to know about pop'.

Distribution: I have observed where it is most likely for pop music/gossip magazines are sold and have found that they are usually sold in supermarkets e.g. Asda.

Frequency of Publication: Due to the fact that pop magazines are extremely popular (because pop music is the most popular music genre).

Rationale: Pop music have a purpose to grasp their readers attention and keep them intrigued so that their readers will keep on reading each issue of the magazine, they do this by: Including the latest gossip, up-to-date fashion tips, exclusive interviews, competitions etc.

Style/Layout/Colour: The target audience of pop music magazines are young teenage girls, and therefore the appearance of the magazine is very typically 'girly'. This means that the designs are pretty and pink, light-hearted, obvious and friendly.

Regular Content: Pop music magazines are typically known to have reviews, tour dates, posters, fashion tips, interviews and gossip.

Featured Content: Many pop music magazines have a 'feature' cover line on each issue per week; and this is a special article for that particular week e.g. an exclusive interview.

Research and Planning: Drafts Redrawn

I have chosen to re-draw my drafts for my pop music magazine and base my new drafts on my audience research and questionnaires, and I have also considered how most professional and existing pop music magazines look and incorporated some of those elements into my new drafts:

Research and Planning: Costume and Props Research

I have looked at existing pop music magazines and looked closely at what the female artists (models) are wearing and what props (if any) which they have.

I have done this because I think it is important for me to make my magazine as realistic as possible and market research will help me to achieve this.

I have discovered that all of the females are wearing 'girly' clothes and also fashionable clothes which would appeal to a teenage audience. The clothes are quite bright and definitely stand out.

Also, I have noticed that the location of the model shoot is basically a white canvas behind the model, and I think that they do this because they want the sole focus of the image to be the artist.

Research and Planning: Contents Page Analysis

Representation:

The contents page represents the artists as friendly and approachable, but most importantly - young. The reason that they make the artists look this way is so that young teenage girls reading it can relate easier to the artists than they would if they did not look like 'one of them'. If the youngsters did not or could not relate to the magazine models, then it would be less likely for them to read it as it wouldn't appeal as much.


Layout:

The layout is straight-forward and professional; it has the typical three columns which magazine use, and also incorporates images onto the page neatly, ensuring that the images do not cover any writing. 
This makes the magazine look professional and therefore I will also incorporate these particular things into my design to make it look good also.


Genre:

It is clear that this magazine is a pop magazine. The reason I know that the genre is pop is because of the sheer layout of the contents page; the text is informal and 'girly'; the colours are all light and bright, signifying that this is an informal magazine; the images are all of popular pop artists; there are fashion accessories on the page; the cover lines/articles are all gossip news related.


Audience: 

I think it is clear that the audience of this magazine is females around the age of 11-17. I think this because the magazine has quite a young, fresh design which would attract girls in that age range because of elements like the fashion and gossip used on the contents page to intrigue them (which both of those stereotypically do).

Research and Planning: Equipment and Software List

1) iMAC computer

2) Canon Camera 1100D

3) Photoshop Software

4) InDesign Software

Research and Planning: Costumes and Props List

My choices for costumes and props are all based around what I have seen on front covers on a pop music magazine. I want my model to look pretty and 'sweet' but also young and full of life. I think this will appeal to young teenage girls because they want to look like their idols (the artists) and if they see my model wearing young, 'party' like outfits that would also be available to them, they will be happy and want to read about them and how they become even more like them through fashion tips etc. I have ensured that my choices are decent and not too revealing as I do not want to encourage young girls to be like that; I think my outfit is just right for a pop music magazine.

Research and Planning: Production Schedule

Research and Planning: Double Page Spread Analysis

Representation:

The artist on the page is Justin Bieber; a highly successful pop artist, whose immediate target audience is young teenage girls (commonly known as 'beliebers'). You can also see that the magazine is aimed at young teenage girls because they have stereotypically made Justin Bieber look attractive; in other words, transforming him into a 'teen-heartthrob'. The mise-en-scene used in his photograph tell me lots of things about the representation of the artist; for example, his facial expression is quite cheeky and therefore alluring - it makes him almost a 'bad-boy' which will intrigue the audience. Also, with a plain white background behind the artist, we know that the designers want the audience to focus solely on him. And also his clothes look quite young and teen girls will relate to that as they will see boys their age wearing the same kind of clothing as Justin is; making the artist more relatable and seem normal to the fans.

Layout:

The title of the article is a key quote from Justin's interview, which immediately shows us that this magazine is quite informal; another way to attract young readers.
The magazine covers the three-colour rule and this shows that it is professional. 
Due to the fact that Justin Bieber's photograph takes up the whole right page, it makes the amount of text on the page small which also shows that it is an informal magazine aimed at young people.
Another key element that I noticed when analysing this double page spread was that they have incorporated a small box in the lower corner of the left page regarding 'dressing room demands' - in other words, fashion tips. I have noticed through my research that fan girls are highly interested in the fashion world which comes from pop music, and therefore this small box highlights the magazines target audience.

Genre:

The article is an interview surrounding love life (with Selena Gomez) and generally the artists personal life and relationships, which teenage fans will want to know about. However, the interview does mention his music and his latests hits in the charts, but I would say that the ratio between gossip and music would be 70/30 - I will take this into account when making my double-page spread.

Audience:

Taking all of the other elements into account, I think it is obvious that my audience for my pop magazine will be to teenage girls between the age of '13 - 18'. 

Research and Planning: Audience Interview Videos

Through this research, I have found that 2/3 of the audience wish for my model to be female; and they think this because a young teenage girl would relate to a female model rather than a male as they will want to know about their female icons. Also, the majority think that my three colour scheme would be Pink, Light Green and Yellow and they chose these because they think they are quite feminine colours and my audience is girls so they will obviously be attracted to that. Thirdly, they think that the price of my magazine should be around £2.99. Lastly, they all thought that the front cover should be my main focus when creating my pop magazine as that is what (in their opinion) initially attracts the audience to get the magazine rather than the cover lines etc.

Research and Planning: Interview Questions

1. What colours do you expect to see on a pop magazine aimed at young teenage girls and why?

2. How much would you pay for a teen-pop magazine and why?

3. Do you think my model should be a female or a male and why?

4. What is the most important element that I should focus on when creating my magazine and why?

Research and Planning: Target Audience PowerPoint Presentation

Research and Planning: Questionnaire Results

 Through these results I have discovered that my target audience will prefer to have my pop music magazine like this:

1) Masthead named 'HOT IN POP'

2) The colour of my masthead should be 'pink'.

3) The gender of my model should be female.

4) The majority of my target audience buy magazines weekly.

5) The price that my audience would expect would be £2.99

Research and Planning: Questionnaire Questions

1. What should the name of my magazine be?

a) HOT IN POP
b) The Pop Life
c) Pop Is Us


2. What colour should my masthead be?

a) Blue
b) Pink
c) Light Green

3. Which gender should my main model be?

a) Male
b) Female

4. How often do you buy music magazines?

a) Weekly
b) Monthly
c) Daily

5. How much money would you usually expect a music magazine to be?

a) £0.99
b) £1.99
c) 2.99

Research and Planning: Masthead Designs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are my initial masthead designs. I have established through audience and market research that my masthead font should be big and bold - this is to attract the readers attention and to also indicate that the magazine is quite informal as it is a music magazine aimed at young teenagers rather than a serious, news-filled magazine.