Price

The price of the magazine is an important factor. It could effect the popularity of the magazine and the audience it appeals to. I did a poll to find out what my peers and other members of my taget audience would pay for a music magazine. There are certain elements which I made clear such as; there will not be a free gift in the magazine and the magazine will be every month.

less than £2.00 2/25
£2.00- £3.00 5/25
£3.00- £4.00 13/25
£4.00- £5.00 5/25

Using these results I will place the price of my magazine in the region of £3.00 and £4.00, probably around £3.00. As it is a monthly issue it can be more expensive than a weekly issue that my target audience would have to pay for every week.

This link (http://www.nrs.co.uk/toplinereadership.html) shows figures that show that the genre of my magazine is quite popular with my target audience. My target audience is is young adults from around the age of 15+.

Mock ups

I have created some mock magazine covers using the layouts plans I created as a template. For these mock ups I gathered images from the Internet of music bands, and artist that are popular in my chosen genre of music and appeal to my target audience. The first mock up shown is also the first layout shown on a previous posts. I found an image of Cheryl Cole, the image is from her popular number one single, and this is recognised by the clothing she is wearing. I decided to incorporate more elements of her single and music video onto the cover by using the color scheme used in her video, red white and black. I added red and black columns around the singer to frame her image and show a theme. I also put the subheading as a quote in a hand writing style of text , showing Cheryl is a down to earth, 'girl next door', kind of person that she is well known for, this also shows her influence on the magazine as it is about the artists and music. The handwriting style is also used for her album, single and music video. I also chose that particular image of her as she has great body language, she is standing firm and this could show power, and the fact she is in clothing that can be associated with a soldier could show bravery, strength and fighting spirit. Although the cover is simplistic I feel it is effective.

The second cover is okay, I like the masthead at the top of the page with the main image central. When I take the image for my cover I would have it so it fills more space as I felt this left the page empty so I filled it with some images related to music. I like the third cover as it takes up most of the page and the colours really stand out on the black background. The space for the heading and subheading on the right hand side was perfect on the page and I think it all look evenly spread out. I did have to slightly edit the back ground. I chose an image of Madonna that people would recognise her for such as her outfits like the leotard and dance moves. Her shoes are also glamorous to go with her image. I chose text that was bold and made a statement that the magazine was about the 'queen of pop', I also used the contrast of colours red and white on the text so that certain words stood out such as, exclusive. The final cover has a thick black border so that the main image stands out. The image relates to the heading with the band holding an award. The name of the band is at the top of the image section with an image of the band below showing all of the band members clearly. The masthead is at the top of the cover and in the border so it doesn't cover any of the images and the white stands out clearly on the black background.

Color Schemes

I experimented with color schemes that I could use for my magazine. As I previously posted I feel I will most likely include the colours black and white. I like black white and red as they stand out well together and are colours that will fit in with both genders. Personally I don't like the color schemes that are just two colours as it could be too plain. I find the black, white and yellow are bright, they stand out well together but I feel that the yellow could be too bright and hard to read. Together, black and green will contrast well but may not fit my target audience of both males and females from around the age of 14 plus. Black and white are bold and contrast each other and I think they could be used together without been overpowering like the black and green. I do not feel that white and blue follow the genre of the magazine as the colours are too weak together and don't make a bold statement compared to the other color schemes.

Colours

Looking at a variety of magazines I found a consistent theme of Black and white accruing, this is very popular as the colours contrast and are easy to see next to each other. With this I feel it is essential that i include these too colours within my color scheme and will continue to experiment further with my ideas on colour schemes.

Fonts

When I was looking for mast head fonts I saw a few that I thought I could use for the general writing in my magazine for my contents or double page spread. Here is a small selection of font that I feel are easy to read, and not boring like a usual font. I chose fonts that look like they are hand written to make the magazine more informal and to relate to my target audience more. The font needs to be clear and readable like all the fonts chosen.

Layouts

I have created a range of layouts that I could use for the front cover of my magazine. I could use the image as the whole of my background as shown on the first, third and last example. This would mean extra care when taking the picture as I would have to leave enough space for article and subheading space without it cutting off part of the image. The mast head will most likely by placed at the top of the page but I experimented by placing it at the bottom as shown on the first example. The second example shows the image in the centre of the page with a large black boarder . This focuses more attention on the image. I have chosen for the headline or subheading to overlap the image on all of my layouts so that they stand out and in some cases frame the image. I have included the date, issue and price as it will have to be on my cover somewhere, however I have placed this at the top or bottom of the covers as it is not a very important part of the cover . The final three designs follow the visual hierarchy with the masthead at the top f the page which will be the first thing the costumer will see. The final and second design follow it a little more by the heading been slanted, however it would have to have a sharper angle to follow the hierarchy correctly. I have used objects slanting to show how 'out of control' the magazine is and so it looks less formal.

Masthead Style

All of these mastheads are the same font. I have edited them using a variety of tools, this is to add detail to the masthead and remove the feminine butterflies on the corner of the 'E' . I chose a variety of effects to make the titles fit in with my genre and give the magazine an informal effect. It could be argued that the second font down has too much 'splatter' and isn't very easy to read. I like how all of the fonts are bold and shout out but I feel that there may be too much detail for a masthead. The final masthead has a pattern within it which I added, the colour is a light grey so that it doesn't stand out, however I think it is too much. The font also has giraffes on it which does not really agree with the music magazine genre of rock and pop, it is not extremely noticeable and I could edit the font to remove it .

Magazine Title

I have selected some titles that I could use for my magazine. 'Tribute' would be great for a music magazine as it is used in the industry and the magazine could be seen as a tribute to the singers and bands. Its one word that is short and catchy. I chose 'Queen' as it is the name of a old well known band, this has proved successful in other magazines such the 'Rolling Stone'. It also suggests royalty, class and quality which would give my magazine a great image. The last title idea has a good ring to it and could be shortened to RPS. It is straight to the point of what the magazine is about and tells the reader that the magazine is purely about music. It also tells the reader what the genre is and will shout out to fans of the rock and pop music.

Fonts

I have chosen a wide variety of fonts that I could use for my masthead. I am planning to create a rock and pop genre of music magazine. In this case some of the fonts are not realistic such as the last three. The first of the last three is hard to read and has a horror effect. The last two are in a graffiti effect and this would be more appropriate for a gangster rap magazine rather than a rock and pop genre. I think that all of the fonts on the left hand side are appropriate for this genre of magazine and are fairly easy to read. My personal favourites are the first five fonts as I feel that they would bring character to the magazine and set the tone of the genre. I think the third would give my magazine a great image for the everyday person. The mixture of upper and lower case letters would show that the magazine is not formal and along with the pulse line flowing through it could show no control. I also feel that this applies to the first font. I like that the fonts do not look neat and tidy which can often look boring .I feel the fonts in the top right hand side do not suite my genre of music and some look too feminine, they also do not make a bold statement that I think is necessary for this magazine. Some are to basic and I would like some detail on my masthead.