Assesment 3

Treatment

Production team: Lucy Farrell

Synopsis: I am to design a music magazine called ‘Krank’; I will also create the front cover, contents and double page spread. The subgenre of my magazine is heavy metal. The magazines house style will include mainly black, white and red with ‘Arial’ typography to match the masthead.

Detail of target audience: My target audience is girls and boys heavy metal fans from the age of 17- 27. They are interested in rock music/heavy metal, for them its not just music but it’s a way on life (a lifestyle), they look stereotypically like punks or hell’s angles style, they rebel against society by standing out in a crowd by wearing bold fashion statements to define themselves (e.g. brightly coloured hair, clothing, piercings, etc).

Photography Design: All locations will be plain so that I can edit them. I will either use 2 girls for the band or 2 boys for the band. The costumes will be dark/ dull with makeup on to enforce the idea of them being a heavy metal band that looks a bit weird and freaky. I will use a medium close up on the band as there will only be 2 people in the photo. The front cover photo will show one of the band members looking and standing straight on to the camera (this is the main singer), while the other person will be standing towards the main singer to show that they aren’t as important because they are not showing their full body to the camera, they will be doing some gesture with their hands. For the contents page I will use another medium close up but this time the band will be positioned in a slightly different way, probably a low angle shot. For any other contents photos (of other bands and features) I will take photos of my friends doing weird poses and faces. For the double page spread I will show the band ‘messing around’ and pulling wired faces at the camera (as so many Kerrang interviews to the same) this will convey the bands wild side as individual people not just as a band, I want each pose to say something about the band member as a person.

Interview/Article: My double page spread will be on a band called ‘Tainted Saints’ and an interview with them. They aren’t a brand new band, they have been round a while but have struggled to get where they are, the interview will exploit the problems they faced in the heavy metal industry and if it was all worth it.

Initial Recce considerations: I will make sure that all equipment is handled correctly and put away safely. All photographic backgrounds will be plain so that I can edit them on Photoshop.

Band name ideas

These are a couple of ideas for the featured band of my magazine, they are of course a heavy metal band which matches my music magazine (Krank). I decided on the second design as i like the faded effect on the word 'tainted' and the way it overlaps the word 'saints', but its still visable. I also like the red outline round 'saints' as it makes the text stand out.

Starter Task for 24th March 2009

Double page spread ideas:
1. Interview/ on tour with...
2. Review
3. Biopy
4. New album release/ historical profile of a band
5. Band diary/ expose
6. Top 100 best selling bands this month
7. Awards ceremony

Generic elements of double page spreads:
1. Title/ headline
2.Subtitles
2.Photos
3. page numbers
3. Colums
4. Drop caps (big letters at start of article)
5. Quotes

Final Masthead Design

This is my final masthead design which will be on my final magazine cover. I created it on Photoshop. The text itself is very boring and is in 'Arial' font. I created the rough edges by ultilising a shape which is avabliable on Photoshop which i cropped to fit the typography. The same shape was used for the white background. And finally for the thin white stripes that go through the text are rectangles.

Photo Practise :)

We were given different poses to portray but we couldnt show anyone in the group the photo or touch anyone to put them into position, the idea was to work on communication skills.

Test Magazine

This gives me an idea of what I want my own magazine to look like. I created this myself aprat from the photo. It features my masthead and colour scheme.

Starter Task. 17th March 2009

For this starter task we looked at what generic elements of a music magazine must be on the contents, and here they are:
1. Photos
2. Text/ writing
3. Page numbers
4. Clear layout/ juxtaposition
5. House style
6. Title of the magazine and the title 'Contents'.
7. Letter from the editior/ editorial
8. Sub-headings, News, Interviews etc
9. Description on articles
10. Subscription details
11. List of magazine personel

Start Task. 13th March 2009

We looked at 5 different pictures and talked about why they wasnt suitable for a front cover of magazine, here are a few reasons; not a medium close up, too dark, busy background, not portrait etc.

For the second part of the starter we was put in groups and was given a camera to take our own front cover photos, after we looked at what was right and wrong about them.

Then, we identified the 5 rules for taking a good front cover photo:
1. No cluttered backgrounds
2.Focus on the lead singer if its a band (so the audience know). If its a single artist, medium close up or close up.
3.Leave room for the masthead, don't cut anyone's head off.
4. No high angle shots, its looks wierd.
5. Animate your band. Make them look like their doing something interesting.

Finally, we listed three things which have helped us the most during the lesson. Mine included:
1. The rules of medium close up's.
2.Look at the camera.
3. Clear background
But the one that help me most was to animate the band to give each person a certain representation/ persona, and put lead singer at the front.

Appendix 4

• Research Bauer www.bauer.co.uk
• Research IPC Media www.ipcmedia.com

1. List which music magazines they own.
Bauer own:
Pop
Kerrang
Mojo
Q

IPC own:
Guitar & Bass
NME

2. What are their main sub-genres?
Bauer magazine’s main sub genres include; Heavy metal/rock, teen and indie.
IPC magazine’s sub genres include; Indie and rock.

3. Do they cater for mainstream or niche audiences?
Bauer’s magazines, Kerrang! and Mojo are specifically aimed at a niche audience whereas Q is aimed at a mainstream audience.
IPC magazines like NME and Guitar & Bass are aimed at niche audiences.

4. Pick 3 and try to expand on their demographic readership and find circulation figures (ABCs). Detail how the magazine tries to target this demographic with reference to content (images/articles).
Kerrang!’s total circulation on issues per week is 52,272. This is a high circulation rate which means that it is a mainstream magazine; the readers can be anyone within a certain age range, although people who listen to rock are more likely to read this, the images are usually dark and the people in the images usually have an ‘aggressive look on their face, which connotes that it is a Rock/ Metal music magazine. Whereas Q has a circulation figure of 103,017, which is big and makes it another mainstream magazine, although people who listen to indie are more likely to read this, also Q is more likely to have black and white images on it with people looking quite ‘serious’ about their music but laid back at the same time. Finally NME is another mainstream music magazine that a lot of people are likely to read, this magazine will more likely have a Rock/Indie photo to show the reader what they are actually about to read.

5. How do these magazines use the process of synergy to sell the brand? Give as many examples as you can.
They use the process of synergy to sell their by using their websites and TV to advertise their magazine, also they will advertise new albums in the magazine to promote that product so people buy the primary product they are trying to promote. For example Kerrang! Will advertise their magazine on their TV channel.

Appendix 5 Magazine Ideas

Imaginary entity (Ien Ang theory)
Advertisements tell us something about the reader and their interests.

Idea One

Target audience and age groups?
My target audience for my first idea for a music magazine is teenagers to young adults, round the age of 14-25. It will be aimed at males as it will include dark, dull colours and information which will appeal to boys. My intended audience will be stereotypical heavy metal fans.

Mainstream or niche?
My magazine will be niche to appeal to a specific audience to generate circulation and readership within the chosen audience.

Sub genre?
The sub genre on the magazine will be metal/rock.

Name of magazine and connotations?
I have thought about a couple of names for a heavy metal magazine, such as:
Krank – Is an adaptation from the phrase ‘Krank it up’ which is said by rock stars.
Metal Head – Relates to the heavy metal and head banging to it.
Poison – connotes that the music is poisoning, when you listen to it you’ll be hooked.

Ideas for main cover
Fonts: San serif, interesting typography which reflects the audience’s age, as san serif texts are modern and are aimed at younger people.
Colour scheme: Dark colours, mainly black and white to show contrast and so that typography will still be visible.
Layout: Wonky photos to connect with the teen audience. Clear masthead and sub headings.

Ideas for main double page spread article
My double page spread will be an interview for a new upcoming band.

Ideas for other possible contents
Advertisements that are appropriate to the magazine’s audience.

Idea Two

Target audience and age groups?
My target audience for my second idea for a music magazine is teenagers to young adults, round the age of 12-17. I have chosen this target audience again because I can personally relate to it as I’m within my own target audience,, it also means that I can dictate whether other teenagers would be interested in the magazine. It will be aimed at females as it will be bright and colourful. The information also will appeal to girls as there will be free posters of boys inside. My intended audience will be stereotypical pop music fans.

Mainstream or niche?
My magazine will be mainstream to appeal to a wider audience to generate big circulation and readership.

Sub genre?
The sub genre on the magazine will be metal/rock.

Name of magazine and connotations?
I have thought about a couple of names for a teen pop magazine, such as:
Official Girl – Gives the impression that readers will get all the ‘official’ information they’ll need about the pop world when they read the magazine.
Kissalicious – This sounds like a very girly word, it’s a mix between the word ‘kiss’ and the smash hit song from Destiny’s Child ‘Bootylicious. Destiny’s Child were a leading pop group which is relevant to the magazine.
Troublemaker – connotes that teenagers are troublemakers if they read the magazine.

Ideas for main cover
Fonts: San serif, interesting typography which reflects the audience’s age, as san serif texts are modern and are aimed at younger people probably bubble writing.
Colour scheme: Bright colours, mainly pink and white to connect with the target audience because the stereotypical teenage girl likes pink..
Layout: Wonky photos to connect with the teen audience. Clear masthead and sub headings.

Ideas for main double page spread article
An interview with a new up coming pop group.

Ideas for other possible contents
Information about who’s coming to the arena, advertisements about new albums coming out.

Idea 3

Target audience and age groups?
My target audience for my third idea for a music magazine is, again late teens to young adults, round the age of 17-26. I have chosen this target audience because personally I know a lot of people who love dance music and go clubbing, and I don’t think there are many dance magazines available. This means that I would be able to find suitable people to get feedback from. The magazine will be aimed at both genders but probably mostly appeal to females as they are the dominant consumer of dance magazines.

Mainstream or niche?
My magazine will be niche to appeal to a specific audience to generate circulation and readership within the chosen audience.

Sub genre?
The sub genre of the magazine is dance/rave music.

Name of magazine and connotations?
I thought about a couple of names for a teen pop magazine, such as:
Symphonic - Connotes music
!Raver - A raver is the modern day term for someone who goes clubbing alot.
Raveit - Rave it refers to danceing, like saying 'move it'.

Ideas for main cover
Fonts: San serif, interesting typography which reflects the audience’s age, as san serif texts are modern and are aimed at younger people probably graffiti.
Colour scheme: Bright colours, mainly contrasting colours to connect with the target audience because the stereotypical 21st century clubber/raver wears really bright colours.
Layout: Wonky photos to connect with the late teen audience. Clear masthead and sub headings.

Ideas for main double page spread article
Interview with a DJ. Review of a club night out somewhere.

Ideas for other possible contents
The information inside will state upcoming clubbing events e.g. who’s DJ-ing where, and where all the biggest nights out are. This also will appeal to both genders as males and females go out clubbing. There will also be information on the latest dance music releases.

More ideas produced on Photoshop. I used a plastic effect to make the text shiney and a neon effect put behind to make the text stand out, i also used bright colours to show the contrast.

Audience Feedback

I sat in a group of four and discussed each other's magazine name ideas, the idea i put forward was 'Krank' which would be for a heavy metal magazine. The group gave positive feedback to my idea, they said it was a appropriate name for a rock magazine.

Magazine Ideas for 'Krank'

A couple of ideas for my heavy metal magazine produced on photoshop elements :)

Starter task for 6th March 2009

Mainstream - Appeals to a wider audience, its generally something that most people can relate to and connect with. It has high circulation and readership figures. E.g. !Kerrang.

Niche - Its more specific to a certain genre of audience. Smaller circulation and smaller readership. E.g. Classical fm.