Peer Assessment of Flat Plan

I presented and discussed my flat plan front cover, contents page and double page spread of my magazine to my fellow class mates and received feedback. The good feedback I got was that it was clear by the use of images and language what the genre of the magazine was. Also, the large image used on the double page spread and the contents page makes the reader interested in the magazine. I also received feedback for improvement. The first improvement I have been suggested to make is to spread the sell lines on my front cover out more as they are all at the bottom of the page. I could do this by making the smaller images on the front cover smaller so I have more room to spread the sell lines out so it is not as crowded at the bottom. Another improvement suggested is to make the image space on the contents page as it takes up half the page so is too much room and more room is needed for text as it is a 'contents' page so is based on mainly the 'contents' of the magazine. The final improvement suggested is to add more colour to the double page spread to match with the use of colour on the front page and contents page. I could do this by changing the colour of the costume the model will wear to more brighter colours rather than darker colours.

As I have been given some feedback for improvement by my peers, this has affected my ideas for my magazine. The designs for my flat plan was how I originally planned on making my magazine like but as some of the features I designed have been found unpopular by my peers which are also my target audience, I need to change some of my ideas and go with what my peers say to ensure my magazine is more popular and successful.

Flat Plans & Rationale

From my research of rock/indie magazines I have created flat plans for the front cover, contents page and double page spread as a first draft using my current research on what I would like my magazine layout, features and colours to look like.

Front Cover

For my masthead I have copied the style of the 'Smash Punkers' font from www.dafont.com which is similar to Kerrang!'s masthead. I want to use this style font as it is big and bold so stands out relating to the genre and also the smash effect creates a grungy distorted effect also relating to the genre. The magazine title is 'Reckless!' which is an adjective meaning a person goes ahead with something not caring about the consequence. This adjective can relate to the lifestyle of the target audience. Like Kerrang! magazine I also used an exclamation mark at the end of the magazine title to make the name look bold and stand out. The masthead will be black against a white background so the colours contrast each other so the masthead is easily read which it is needed to be for the audience to recognise the magazine when it is displayed on the shelf and are two colours used in my three colour palette. Also, like most professional magazines, the masthead is positioned at the top of the page so it is easily viewable on the shelf.

My skyline is a black banner with red writing across it. Here, I am continuing the three colour palette scheme and the dark banner on the background makes the skyline stand out. Like most professional magazines, the skyline is positioned at the top of the page above the masthead taking up little space. In the Kerrang! magazine I researched and analysed, the content of the skyline was about an upcoming festival's line up being released so I used the same type of content for my skyline.

For my main image I will use a medium close up shot of three people. This image will take up most of the page and be layered underneath all of the text used. From my research from magazines of this type of genre I have noticed a continuous pattern of front covers' main images being of a band positioned in a pyramid structure to show who the leading band members are by placing these at the front of the pyramid so they are represented as being the most dominant. I will use one female model and two male models. The female model will be positioned at the front of the pyramid to represent the growing number of female lead artists in this genre of music like Hayley Williams from Paramore as oppose to the majority of bands from this genre being male dominant so my magazine portrays something different which will attract the audience. The costumes of my models will be of a quite dark and dull colour to represent the genre of my magazine of independence and not mainstream so they will not be wearing bright colours to stand out. I have noticed from my research of magazines of this genre that a lot of male models wear black and white checkered shirts so one of my male models will wear a black and white checkered shirt to relate to the genre. 

My puff is positioned at the bottom of the page taking up the same amount of room as my skyline as like most professional magazines. The colours used on this are opposite to the colours used on my skyline as the puff will have a red background with black text. These two colours also match the three colour palette scheme. The puff contains names of extra artists included inside the magazine as from my research from Kerrang! magazine I found that the puff usually contains extra content which will be included inside the magazine.

The main sell line on my magazine will be positioned diagonally across the page like the Kerrang! magazine I researched. The sell lines which are part of the main sell line will be displayed above and below the main sell line. The colour of the text will be the opposite of the colour of the text on the masthead as it will be white with a black outline to make the text stand out more as it is the most important sell line on the page. The other sell lines will have a black background with red and white writing to match with the three colour palette scheme and stand out but not stand out as much as the main sell line.

I have included all the features which make a magazine front cover look professional on my flat plan. I have also included a bar code, graphics and smaller images. When I produce my magazine, I will also include the price of the magazine, the issue number and the date the magazine will be published to make my magazine look fully professional.

Contents Page

For my contents page, the three colour palette scheme of black, white and red is carried out through from the front cover to show continuity and professionalism. The main image on the contents page will take up the top half of the page like in the Kerrang! contents page I researched to show one of the main pieces of content which will be included in the magazine which in my magazine appears on the double page spread I will produce. I will overlay two smaller images on top of the main image to show other main pieces of content which will be included in the magazine but on pages which I will not produce. I will take all these images and I am including three so the contents page looks more appealing to the reader as it is not all just text. 

The bottom half of my contents page includes all text including the contents and page numbers so the readers know what is included in the magazine and are directed towards which page they would like to read by the page numbers which will also be displayed at the bottom of every page throughout the magazine. The text is split into five columns to make the page look tidy, organised and professional. The first column will include text from the writer written towards the reader to make the reader feel welcome and feel as though the writer is writing directly at them. This feature is usually used in the magazines I have researched so if I use this feature my magazine will look more professional. The rest of the four columns are split under headings to direct the reader more easily to the type of content they may be looking for. Each page will have the main title of the page and details about the page with persuasive language to make the reader want to read that page. 

To make my magazine look professional, I have also included subscription information in the bottom right hand corner which is where most of the magazines I have researched position this information. The type of poses, props and costumes I have chosen for my models to wear in the images relate to the genre of my magazine like the use of a boombox shows that the magazine is a music magazine and shows the individual and independent side to the music without technology which lots of mainstream artists have.

Double Page Spread

For my double page spread, the left hand side page of the article will include the image of the model with the main quote featured in the interview and the right hand side page of the article will include the title, introduction  and text for the interview. This style of layout is used in the Kerrang! magazine I researched so I copied this to make my magazine look professional. 

The main image will have my model looking happy and doing a pose with her hand to show that she is a fun and confident character which relates to the topic of the article. However the colours of the costume will be dark and dull like that of the models on the front cover to relate to the genre of the magazine. I will use dark eye make up on the model to match with the colour of the costume, the colours of the layout of the magazine and the genre of the magazine. 

The three colour palette scheme will also be continued onto my double page spread to show professionalism. I will use a drop cap at the beginning of my text as this is used in the magazines I have researched; this will be a different colour to the rest of the text to make it stand out more. The text will be written in three columns to look like the organised layout of a professional magazine article.

To make my magazine double page spread look professional, I will use page numbers at the bottom of the two pages so the reader can find this page when searching from the contents page, the name of the magazine title and the name of the interviewees name which are all included in the professional magazines I have researched. 

Font Research

I have researched different font styles on the internet and have narrowed it down to two fonts from www.dafont.com which I will use for the masthead for my magazine. The 'Smash Punkers' font creates a grungy look to the font relating to the genre of my magazine. Whereas the 'Ruptured Sans' font is similar to the Kerrang! masthead font where a distorted cracked effect is used. I prefer and have chosen to use the 'Smash Punkers' font for my magazine masthead as it looks like a natural distorted effect rather than a graphic distorted effect. However my magazine title has a '!' at the end and the 'Smash Punkers' font does not include a '!' so I will use a '!' front the 'Ruptured Sans' font.

Smash Punkers

Ruptured Sans

Primary Audience Research

I conducted some primary audience research in order to:

• Find out what appeals to my target audience
• To discover any flaws or potential improvements that could be made to my magazine genre
• To identify any gaps in the market and place a refreshing new twist on the genre.

 

Above are the chosen products that I conducted my research on.

I asked my fellow class mates seven questions which they responded to:

1. What age do you think the target audience is?

2. What genre do you think this magazine is? Why?

3. Do you think the colour scheme looks professional? What could be improved?

4. What do you think about the layout of the double page spread?

5. Is there consistency between the front cover, contents page and double page spread?

6. Does the language used on the front cover and contents page make you want to read on?

7. Do you think the masthead fits with the genre? If so, how?

From the research I did, with a selective sample from my target audience, I found that (some quotes included):

• The age of the target audience was teenagers with around the age 15 to 20.
• The gender of the target audience is both genders, but mostly male 'as the genre is very aggressive'.
• The target audience is aimed for middle class people in the C1/C2 category.
• The magazine genre is rock because of the use of rock bands throughout the magazine.
• The language used is slang with 'smashing captions' so is suitable for the target audience and makes them want to read on. - 'slang language so makes people want to read on as they wonder what it is about'/'I'd be more interested in the main story of the article rather than the language used to convey it'.
• The colours used are bold and bright to suit the target audience and genre as they stand out as 'bold and bright colours are typically what you would find in rock related magazines'
• 'The large image on the double page spread shows the attitude of the band which is similar to the attitude of the target audience.'
• The masthead suits the target audience as it is 'big and bold' so suits the target audience and genre of rock.
• The target audience is mainly aimed at middle class males as the type of music is aggressive.
• The cracked text on the masthead creates a 'grungy effect' and represents the aggressive nature of rock.
• To improve, the three colour palette scheme should be the same throughout unlike this magazine where the cover page and contents page is black, white and yellow and the double page spread is black, white and red.
• The colours of the white text used against the black background is effective as it shows contrast so stands out easily.
• The difference of the blue to the three colour palette scheme on the front cover shows that there could be an alternative side to the genre.

Below is a list of stylistic decisions I'll make for my project following my audience feedback:

• I will use lots of images of rock bands/artists throughout my magazine to show that the genre is rock.
• I will use a bold and bright colour scheme to suit the target audience and make it stand out, and the three colour palette scheme will be consistent and carried out throughout the magazine.
• I will use slang language to suit the teenage target audience and 'smashing captions' to make the reader interested and want to read on.
• The image on the double page spread will be large and and the models will be showing attitude to represent the attitude of the target audience.
• I will make the masthead big and bold to suite the target audience and genre of rock.
• I will make the masthead text cracked to show a grungy effect and represent the aggressive nature of rock.
• I will use white text against a black background so it stands out easily as they contrast.

As I have been given some feedback of good aspects and also for improvement of current professional magazines by my peers, this has affected my ideas for my magazine. Some of the features of Kerrang! magazine have been found unpopular by my peers which are also my target audience, therefore I will need to make sure I follow my stylistic decisions I said I would make and do things for my magazine which my peers like and make sure I don't do things for my magazine which my peers don't like. I am going with what my peers say to ensure my magazine is more popular and successful.

Research Into a Potential Target Audience - Secondary

This image is from http://www.slideshare.net/belair1981/kerrang-readre-profile accessed on 21st January 2012 describing the audience profile for Kerrang! magazine.

On http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/Brands/Kerrang/, accessed on 21st January 2012 it describes Kerrang!‘s audience profile as ‘Young, individually minded and passionate consumers, an audience defined by attitude, passion and loyalty.’ This shows that the target audience for this magazine is for people with an interest in niche music rather than mainstream music as they are passionate to one genre (rock).

On http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/Brands/Q/, accessed on 21st January 2012 it describes Q's audience profile as 'composed of passionate, engaged and open minded music fans driven to continually discover new music - and to use this lust for discovery to influence their friends. The audience is split 75% male to 25% female and is affluent (with 68% ABC1).' This shows that Q’s audience is different to Kerrang’s. It is targeted at an audience with an interest in mainstream music rather than niche music as they are passionate towards a range of genres. This is also aimed at an older working class audience rather than a young one.

My target audience will be ‘young, passionate and individually minded consumers thriving to discover new and upcoming artists.’ I am targeting this group of people as it is similar to Kerrang!’s target audience however the content will be slightly different as it will feature new and upcoming artists so the target audience must be thriving to discover these new and upcoming artists. The target audience will be, like Kerrang!’s, a young audience as they tend to have more passion towards the genre of music. 

My target audience will generally have these following characteristics:

• Age: 15 to 28
• Gender: Both male and female, however mostly male.
• Hobbies and Interests: Attending music gigs of rock/indie bands, reading rock music magazines like Kerrang! and Rock Sound; watching teenage TV dramas like The Inbetweeners and Skins; accessing social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter; shopping at alternative clothing shops like Drop Dead and Urban Outfitters.
• Media Influences: Internet, Technology, Social networking sites, TV dramas, rock music magazines and rock artists.

Research Into Institutions That Distribute Similar Products

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Research Into Similar Products

PRINT brief

prelim task = cover + contents page of a college magazine
      +
main task = cover + contents page + double page spread (DPS) of a new music magazine

Preliminary exercise: using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Additionally candidates must produce a DTP mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate their grasp of the program.

Main task: the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine.
All images and text used must be original, produced by the candidate, minimum of FOUR images per candidate.