Indie Music Magazine Double Page Spread Analysis

In this feature article it is clear that this is more the stereotypical view towards the indie music society. Almost taking it to the extremes of a recklessness lifestyle that is led. The layout is interesting in the sense that it is very image heavy, the amount of text is small, the text is compressed to one side of one page as well as the title of the story, this is very unconventional for double page spreads as they are usually the most in depth and interesting article within the magazine, however again this break in conventional layout may again be a representation of the breaking of convention within the indie society. The use of colour is playful and modern, it is a common convention within indie and rock magazines to use a reverse, white on black or black on white however I think because of the colour and nature of the image the light blue works, it is a feature spread and so needs to be different to other articles within the magazine in order to be recognised as a highlight.

The typography of this particular feature analysis is very basis and simple, the text the institution want you to clearly recognise in order to be attracted into reading the story below is clear, the world "fat white family" "the Lexington" and "London". It is an effective way of getting the main point of the article across to the reader, from this we can gather than the band is Fat White Family, the venue is The Lexington which is situated in London. The use of reverse also emphasises this simple method of attracting potential readers of this particular article.

The image is of a leading band member, again a middle class white male with a sense of unconformity and recklessness to his look, his shaved head is clearly a statement towards his unhinged strangeness which makes him easily identifiable to the indie society. More primarily the image is of a band member, someone who leads a particular fan base and who particular males in the indie society may aspire to be like. It is representative of the indie lifestyle as the setting is clearly at a gig, live music is preferred over over produced mainstream music in the indie lifestyle as it proves that those performing can actually sing and entertain. More importantly it supports Marxist's theory of white middle class males are the ones who control societal norms and are in control of the media in general.

Overall I think that this feature article has a reckless feel towards it and the bold choice of such an image heavy feature is going against convention in a sense that a feature is usually something lengthy and interesting at the same time, such a short amount of text makes you question whether this story is an interesting as it is made out to be, given its state in the magazine, a feature. It is original and unique in its style which arguably is an effective move for the institution regarding the indie genre and lifestyle.

The second feature analysis is taken from Q magazine, a magazine have both analysed and critiqued previously. Q magazine is different to both NME and Kerrang, and other popular indie music magazines, it has a higher sense of professionalism about it, due to a number of factors that are also clearly representable in the double page spread below. Is it the bold use of contrasting colours on a minimalistic background and image? Or is it simply down to the elegant and formal layout and typography? All of these factors make Q magazines stand out as an individual and successful indie magazine

The image used below is of the hugely successful pop/indie artist Lady Gaga, who arguably could be seen as having a much larger impact on the pop genre of music, however her eccentric and unusual lifestyle and many of her less popular songs easily class Lady Gaga into the indie genre. She is staring into the camera lens, creating a connection between her and the reader, also giving off a unsettled vibe. The image is simply been given a black and white filter, adding to the simple and minimalistic design of the double page spread overall, I do not think the image would work as well if it was in colour as it would distract from the feature article to the right side of the page. Overall the mise en scene portrays a minimalistic and provocative vibe, Lady Gaga's explicit posing portrays this well. She has obviously had her hair and make up professionally and meticulously groomed, adding to the sense of professionalism that Q magazine reeks of. I do not think that her posing is an attempt to support Laura Mulveys theory of woman simply being used in order to attract males. I think that both males and females equally enjoy Lady Gaga and therefore she is not being sexually exploited in order to gain male readership. At least not intentionally.

The layout of this double page spread has a professional look to it, it is clear where the boxes of texts are and everything is rather conformed to the boundaries of the page, the image takes up one side exactly and the text, the other, through my analysis of other indie music magazines this does not seem to be the case, an image in the centre of the double page is a popular convention, however this change in layout may simple be because of the professionalism that Q magazine strives for, where as magazines such as Kerrang and NME have a more reckless design and vibe to them.

The typography of this double page spread is similar to what is found throughout Q magazine, standard and arguably elegant fonts. Pointing out the elephant in the room, the large "L" obviously standing for "Lady" in "Lady Gaga" is coloured red in order to make the page stand out, with out it, realistically the double page spread would lack colour entirely, the use of colour at all on such a minimalistic design is an effective and bold decision. The word "lady" at the top of the page is in italics, making it look less important against the bold and capitalised "GAGA" however I think the use of the large red "L" makes up for this minimisation of the importance of the word "lady". The article itself is written in very small text which gives it a sense of daintiness and elegance, it also makes the article look interesting due to the amount of text written about it.

The colour palette, or lack of it, is an effective decision, it is unique and the use of red really is attracting to look at on such a faded and minimalistic background, as previously mentioned this particular colour represents sex, love, anger and hatred, playing on the thought, feeling and emotions of a potential reader.

Overall I think Q magazine has a much more professional feel to it and also is more conformed or less reckless in design compared to other leading indie music magazines such as Kerrang and NME, I think possible larger text in places where the article is simply stated and not described in the same font size would be an effective change in order to clearly give the reader an idea of the story within the incredibly small and arguably hard to read text with no guidance as to whether the reader would be interested in this particular article.

Indie Music Contents Page Analysis

KERRANG

The contents page shown to the right is from Kerrang magazine, another popular indie/rock magazine in which generally has the same target audience as NME. Analysis of the circulation of Kerrang and NME shows us that the target audience is 16-24 year olds but the readership extends as high as 34 year olds, the gender split between the readership is primarily male however their still is a recognisable female audience. The design of the contents page does not give us a representation of this dominant gender and may be because the magazine as a whole wants to remain open to both gender in order to attract the highest possible audience.

Masthead: The masthead of this contents page simply says "It's A Riot!" It is large and wants to be seen, it is exciting and makes you want to read on. What is a riot?
This is actual a reference to the album name that Paramore at the time had recently released. The grungy and rough looking red background to the white text is effective in representing the recklessness of the indie and rock society, supporting Stanley Hall's theory made on the youth of society.

Layout: Straight away, at a first glance it is clear about what is standing out. Overall the layout of the magazine is similar to that of a torn out piece of paper, it looks rough or careless, maybe giving a representation of the kind of lifestyle people that are part of the indie society live. The layout of the contents page strays from common conventions of other popular music magazines, similar to the common conventions of indie music itself, it strays from common conventions set mainly by pop or rock music and other popular genres.

Typography: The typography is very bold and uses a reverse in order to make the important features stand out also the add depth to the contents page, in this instance the reverse is used primarily to highlight what story is on a particular page which is effective as this is what people look for in a contents page, the font used is bold and simple in nature, once again showing male dominance in it's readership as they may prefer simple and bold text rather than an elegant or complicated font which may be more favoured by females.

Colour: The main colours used to build up the background are white and black again a very minimalist combination of colours, the use of red is seen again to highlight features of the contents as well as the use of a combination of reverses. As previously mentioned the colour red denotes the feelings of love, passion, anger and sex, emotions that sub consciously have an effect on the reader and can influence whether they read on or not.

Images: A contents page is commonly thought of a list of numbers corresponding to a particular page however this contents page breaks this convention by the heavy use of images and also gives us background story into one of the feature stories. The entire left side of the contents page is used for listing contact numbers for those who are in charge of production of the magazine and also gives the reader information about who to contact regarding advertising in the magazine and also subscription information. The institution is obviously wanting to generate revenue primarily through the use of advertising and subscription services. The images shown are primarily from the band paramore, as this is obviously some sort of special issue dedicated to a particular band in order to attract a particular fan base to Kerrang. The images are very roughly put together almost in a collage design, to me this represents a quick and careless decision in order to represent the lifestyle of the rock and indie society. A collage is something that is simply chucked together, you would not expect to find photos of an indie band performing surrounded by a pre Victorian times frame. A collage is more easily recognised by the readers of Kerrang and the indie/rock society.

Q

Masthead: The second contents page is from Q magazine, another popular magazine within the indie culture.
The mast of this particular contents page is rather sophisticated and this theme does not contrast well with the casual nature of the majority of the images within the contents page. The logo of the magazine Q is clearly visible, the shortening of the word question to simply one letter, Q, is a bold move made by the institution to show their understanding and portrayal of the youth of society who stereotypically favour abbreviated words in order to make everything more simple.

Colour + Typography: It is clear of the colour palette used within this magazine contents page, red and white, ironically this is the colour of the logo as well. Whether this is a recurring theme throughout all of Q magazines is questionable and would be interested to look further into. Red acts as a stimulus for passion, love, sex and anger. The white acts as a plain background upon which the red primary colour and also the images presented can stand out upon. The font used is more feminine compared to that of NME who used a bold font in order to possibly represent masculinity due to its dominant male readership. Use of a more elegant feminine font may suggest that the readership within Q magazine is more balanced between both male and female.

Layout: Q magazine looks rather sophisticated in the way that it is laid out, there are a lot of parallels between text boxes and images which gives us a sense that it is professional, however would this be popular within the indie society, an attempt to keep things exciting and different from total conformity common conventions is the slightly angled layout of two of the images used in the contents page, possible to show that the production of the magazine is not meticulously perfected and still represents some raw and gritty unique style to it.

Images: The images used are all different to each other and personally I think this is an attempt to cover the whole of the indie lifestyle rather than just the musical side of it. The man in the suit looking rather serious may be an attempt to attract those classed as indie but also are in a higher social grade. Below this image shows an actual page from inside the magazine regarding Dean Martin a popular mid 20th century american singer and entertainer, possibly representing that the indie society still care for music from the past, possible because their interpretation of old music fits their description of indie music, it is decreasing in popularity, so is the indie society resurrecting the popularity of music from the past, simply because it is not over produced or mainstream in today's modern society. The bottom image shows what many of us would interpret as a member of the indie society. It looks as though it is taken from a festival, a popular event within the indie society as it proves that singers can actually sing and entertain, proving they are talented and it is not all just the tactical use of an auto tune button. The shot is mid performance and is specifically of a white male, This supports Marxist (1984) theory that white second class males are in control of society and the media. It also gives us a view as to who the role models within the indie society are. The central image is obviously the feature of the contents page, a woman dressed in non conventional clothing, making a bold fashion statements is seen as a norm in the indie society who are constantly trying to stray from the norms of society. It could be argued that the use of a female could be supporting Laura Mulveys theory, that females are simply used in the media in order to attract males. However this could be seen as an attempt to attract a higher female audience or at least give them something in the magazine that would possibly interest them.


NME

The last contents page I will analyse is from NME, arguably the most popular magazine within the indie music society.

Masthead + Typography: At a first glance the iconic NME logo stands out as well as the word "Contents". All in bold and capitals, similar to Kerrang magazines use of this, it is most likely used in order to attract and excite the males who make up the majority of the readership and the indie society. Once again the colours used are white and red and it really does seem to be a recurring theme that is easily picked up upon during analysis of indie magazines, personally I think that the white and black give a minimalistic feel to the magazine and the use of red is simply used in order to excite the reader with the stimulus of sex, anger and love. The font again is primarily bold in order to represent masculinity and also used to highlight particular parts of the contents page that the institution has decided is important. Throughout the magazine the use of a reverse has been used again, the overall layout is simple and easy to understand, hinting again of the male dominance in the readership as they may care less for complicated or elegant attempts to try and gain their attention.

Images: Once again we see the use of a white, arguably middle class male, Marxist (1984), dressed unconventionally, with long hair to represent his statement towards the breaking of convention and societal norms. This representation of role models in the indie genre seems to be a recurring theme within the production of indie magazines and is a key factor that I will take into consideration when producing my own cover/contents page. Throughout the magazine the use of a reverse has been used again, the overall layout is simple and easy to understand, hinting again of the male dominance in the readership as they may care less for complicated or elegant attempts to try and gain their attention. The picture is taken at night which adds to the mystery and joyous thoughts over the indie society.

Layout: This particular contents page is rather text heavy which is not a feature that is popular within indie magazines, frequent uses of images that represent the indie genre are usually present. However the one image used is powerful in the way that it represents this genre, it covers aspects of lifestyle, fashion and also portrays a potential role model within the indie society. The advertisement to the bottom of the page stand out well as instead of using red as a feature colour the institution has used yellow, this easily recognisable colour change in an otherwise colour conformed page definitely stands out and this is an effective method of advertisement. Compared the Kerrang magazine NME has a more professional look to it in the sense that there are apparent parallels between text and images which is certainly not clear in Kerrang's contents page, who's attempt to represent the rough and edgy lifestyle led by the indie society was moulded into their design of contents page. NME may appeal to the higher social grades because of this and those in social classes D and below may not care for this meticulous use of parallels and may prefer and more rough design. Those in the higher social grades C and above may care for this design as they may simply just be more interested into the music and not the careless and reckless lifestyle that comes from being "indie".

Colour: The same use of colours are present again, red white and black, occasionally the use of yellow is present primarily in features of advertisements, this really has been staring me in the face since the start of indie music magazines. These colours are obviously popular in representing the needs and thoughts of the audience and their lifestyle. This will help me greatly when it comes to producing my own indie magazine. Bentley (1997) ‘The making of the new and rearranging of the old’.

Overall I feel confident in be able to identify the common conventions of magazine production within the indie genre after analysis of three different cover and contents pages from leading magazines that are popular within the indie society, I would also now be able to produce a piece of work that clear represents the indie society.

Indie Music Magazine Cover Analysis

After doing extensive research into six different genres that are popular in today’s modern society I have decided to produce an indie magazine, as it is becoming increasingly more popular meaning this venture will be commercially viable. It is most likely not going to be the most profitable magazine as it is not the dominant genre at this point in time.

To understand the production of indie magazines I will now analyse three successful indie publications, it is important to do this in order to recognise common conventions in these magazines in order to create something that is unique in style and personality but still recognisable to the audience of this genre. “The making of the new through the rearranging of the old” Bentley 1997. I will analyse three different magazines found in this genre and look in particularly at the form of the magazine and the design, the audience and demographics of the magazines, the perception that the producers and editors of the magazine have over the population and society of its readers and finally how the genre is represented as a whole. 

NME

NME magazine is a popular indie music magazine in the United Kingdom established in 1952, it is a respected music magazine and has a large and interesting heritage. It delivers its audience the newest and most popular music and also live music reviews and guides to the newest and best bands. It is targeted towards the 16-24 age category, however the circulation data below shows us that the age group is far more broad being as low as 15 years old and as high as 34

Layout: The layout of this magazine cover is rather conventional when compared to other leading magazines of both similar genres and different genres. The masthead uses up roughly 1/8th of the space of the entire cover a common convention in magazine production. The positioning of the text is rather centric in the main feature of the cover, making it coherent and easy to read, more importantly this particular magazine cover does not look overly busy which can be a put off to potential readers. There is a good balance between both images and text that effectively keep the potential reader sustained in observing the cover, possibly leading to a potential sale.

Images: Primarily the indie genre has a larger male audience over females, a reasoning for this may be because of the lack of female artists contributing towards this genre, it is clear on the magazine cover that I have used as an example that males are the higher population of readers. The killers is an all male band as are bands such as Metallica, Rage and Slipknot. The reasoning for a a high percentage of readers being female could be backed up using Laura Mulvey's theory of the opposite sex being used as a means of advertising towards a particular gender. Stereotypically females would prefer pop music however with an ever changing society, it is more common that these traditional stereotypes are being broken, hence the increase in popularity in indie and rock music from females. The picture of the white male on the cover of the magazine may represent NME's main audience, it is important to take this into consideration when producing my own front cover. The images used on this magazine do stick to common conventions of magazine production in some aspects, the main image or images are the centre of the magazine and draw attention to themselves as it is unusual to see the same person on the magazine in three similar images, however this is all part of the story that the pictures regard to. It makes it very clear what band the person in the main image is, "The Killers" capitalised in order to stand out and make a statement, not only does this appeal to this particular genre but also to the particular fan base of the killers

Masthead + Typography: The masthead used a bold font and tends to stray from elegance, maybe in order to portray certain sense of masculinity as this is the magazine's main demographic. The NME logo is one of rich heritage and the colours used are of vital importance, the black background or border adds depth to the cover page, the red used denotes a symbolism of sex, love and rebellion, playing into the stereotype perceived by Stanley Halls, all youths are trouble makers and are simply rebellious. People in the modern age are obsessed with brands and having the most popular brand is a need for some. The size of the logo "NME" shows that the institution wants the name of the magazine to be known, also the positioning of the name also suggests an awareness of the so called sweet spot that designers need to fill in order for the magazine to be viewable when stacked next to other competing magazines.

Colour: Another unusual break in convention is the colour palette, it consists primarily of red, white and yellow however the band member is wearing a green shirt, however much like the indie society, breaking away from mainstream or ordinary styles is common. It also denoted that the band member has his own style and is not going to simply conform to a magazine colour palette by wearing a red or yellow, black or red shirt, giving a sense of arrogance to the band member, possibly appealing to the potential indie audience. Is this a representation of the indie society? Not wanting to conforming to normal trends and mainstream values.

It is clear what the institution want you to be looking at, either "The Killers" or the words "Preview" or "Special" they entice you to want to find out more and potentially buy the magazine, also the bold use of yellow on black is effective for this genre as it may be representing again, the lack of conformity that the indie society have.

Kerrang

Kerrang is not primarily an indie music magazine however it does cover the sub genre of indie-rock which is equally as popular. It has a similar target audience to NME as it is of a similar genre.

Images: It is automatically clear that the institution recognises its primary demographic, males. The main image is of a male band member, part of 30 seconds to mars, again it is interesting to see a featured band on the cover, this may be a method used in order to try and rope in and unite individual fan bases into buying Kerrang. Kerrang on it's own is an iconic magazine, clearly depicted by the covering of the logo. This denotes a sense of arrogance, as if it saying, you don't need to read it, you know what it is. The popularity of this magazine has helped this to be a bold but successful design. The image not only is representative of the indie/rock genre but is effecting in attracting a particular fan base, a tactical advertising method chosen by the institution.

Layout: The layout of this particular cover is again conventional in some senses, it has followed the golden rule of making mast head being 1/8th of the entire cover in order to be coherent and recognisable. However my attention is pulled further to the right side of the cover simply because the text is larger, an inappropriate break in convention, not using the top left sweet spot to its maximum potential, yes there is content in this area however it is not apparent that the content present is the feature. That seems to be the same across the entire cover and I ask myself the question, "what am I meant to be looking at?". There are many pulls on this magazine that are enticing on their own however it can give the illusion of being needy and may even look be a put off to potential reader due to its complicated looking nature.
Masthead: The masthead itself is shattered and bold, it is not perfect or unblemished much like other logos found in pop magazines which depict fun colours and shapes in order to give a representation of the audience, indie-rock music gives us a representation that its audience is not perfect, or unblemished, possible even rebellious in manner, hence the shattered effect, playing again into the hands of the stereotype made by Stanley Hall. The Kerrang logo also uses a reverse, black on white which is usually thought to be a minimalistic blend of colours however in this sense it is only adding to the perception of the audience the institution has. Black is often associated with so called emos or goths, who make up a large proportion of the demographic of this particular magazine. The use of white on black continues throughout the cover page and also the bold use of red and black. The layout of the main text on the cover is slanted again showing imperfection and rawness to the design. Red symbolises sex, rebellion and rage, another perception made over the audience's lifestyle.
Kerrang have also recognised the common convention of using 1/8th of the magazine to present it's masthead and also the sweet spot, used primarily to attract the potential audience with features insight to the contents of the magazine without having to pick up the magazine and view it as a whole.

Typography: The font used throughout the cover backs up my point made about the Kerrang logo, it is not perfect, and has a grungy effect to it to possibly represent the carelessness of the lifestyle that the rock/indie society live. Personally I think Kerrang need to rethink the sizing of certain parts of the cover as it is not apparent as to what the feature is and font size plays an important part in highlighting or making something stand out from the rest.

Colour: The colour palette used here is white, black, yellow and red, however white and black go with anything, especially each other in this case, making the magazine look professional and not overpowering at a first glance. I will admit that the magazine text wise look busy however each part of the cover has a different design making each individual section look individual and unique from each other. The use of promotion, "Free Giant Posters!" is effective as it sticks to the colour palette and hides and dead space, making the magazine look more interesting giving the illusion that the customer is getting a lot for their money. The background to "Free Giant Posters!" is a torn piece of paper which has been carelessly pulled out of a book, adding to the perception of recklessness and rebellion within the audience's lifestyle.

Q Magazine

Q is another indie music magazine however also covers a broader range of the music than both Kerrang and NME, it may be argued that this magazine is more mainstream than either of the others.

Colour: The thing that hits me as an observer firstly is the use of red, again, it seems to be a recurring theme with this particular genre, the colour red as previously mentioned  represents, sex, violence and rage, possible indicating the perception thought of by the institution over the audience again playing into the hands of Stanley Hall's theory made over the youth of society.

Image: The use of a white skinny male is again used as the main image, this in turn gives the audience a view of what the kind of person to buy this magazine is interested in, more in depth however would be to say this is who the audience aspires to be. The male depicted acts as a role model over the audience, both in looks and in lifestyle.
I also feel very connected to the male depicted as his staring with intent into the readers eyes, creating a certain bond between you and him. His attention is on you the reader and wants your attention to be him and in turn the magazine itself.

Typography: The use of red is more apparent with highlighting features of the magazines cover. At a second glance I noticed that all of the text is in capital letters a common conventions in some popular magazines. It represents masculinity it a way that goes against the preferred elegance and detail that stereotypically females enjoy. The varying boldness of text throughout the cover keeps the magazine looking fresh as the same size font in both length and width would become repetitive and make the magazine look unprofessional and boring.

Lexis: Q magazine also recognises the primary demographic of the indie genre, white males. Using vocabulary such as "drugs", "explosive", "bang", plays on a stereotypically male feature to get excited by action and rebellion, I do not think this would be apparent in an indie magazine that focuses on the female demographic.

Layout + Masthead: This magazine has also broken convention by not actually using the sweet spot, instead the main feature has been placed in the top right of the magazine, this break in convention again does give the magazine its own unique design, previously mentioned may be a representation of the indie audience not wanting to conform. An idea that may even be carried on through magazine production by not following or conforming to the small conventions used in magazines. There is a good balance and combination of both text and images which gives the cover a professional look and does not make the magazine look busy. The obvious conventions such as using 1/8th for a masthead are visible and also using a main central image are found throughout magazine production. The covering of the Q logo may be a copy of design from Kerrang magazine, as popular as Q magazine is it is easy to cover a section of their logo as it is only one letter, covering the word Kerrang is a much more bold statement and I think covering the logo in this particular magazine is not effective.

Music magazine genres and target audience

The publications available in the genre of music magazines are very diverse in order to appeal to the large amount of diverse consumers. The main genres of music which are produced by institutions for profitable reasons are:

- Hip-Hop
- Grunge
- Rock
- Jazz
- Pop
- Indie
- Rap
- Country
- Heavy Metal
- Reggae
- Classical

I will now do an analysis of six particular genres in order to help decide which genre I will choose in order to base my magazine on. In particular I will look at common trends found in each of the genres, the artists that mainly represent the genre. Popular magazine that are related to the genres and also find out who the primary target audience for each genre is.

Pop - Pop is a genre of popular music which originated in the 1950's, it is usually very electronic due to it being a very modern genre. It often borrows elements from other genres such as rock and roll or dance. Depending from where theses elements are taken from defines the type of pop song that is produced, they is a recurring theme for modern day pop. Pop stands for popular. This means its target audience is often very broad, popular music is listened to by the masses however specifically listened to by teenagers and younger adults. It should not be confused with so called power pop which is stereotypically very pleasurable to listen to and instruments such as electric guitars, drums and a bass are common. More primarily found during the 60's and 70's. There is no gender specification towards pop music however there are pop songs in the genre that are primarily aimed at one gender. Those who listen to popular music are simply listening for a distraction or even entertainment, it is seen to be a social norm to listen to pop music, simply because it is popular. Today there are many successful pop artists ranging from Katy Perry to Lady Gaga and also bands such as Fun and Little Mix. Personally I do not think people listen to pop music in order to develop a unique personality but in order to create a personality that is normal and meets the expectations of the modern society, Pop music is listened to as a distraction and for entertainment purposes. Magazines such as "We <3 Pop", Rolling Stones and Q magazine are the main magazines associated with this genre.

Jazz - Jazz originated and the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century in south USA. Jazz also incorporates other elements from popular music such as blues and rock and roll. It was the equivalent to popular music nowadays at its prime. However today it is primarily listened to by the population of people in the social class B-A. There is no targeted gender with Jazz music, and can also be viewed as the person listening to jazz is simply being pretentious. As for age, it may be people who were around at the time however it is becoming increasingly popular and certaintly is not a "dead genre". There are still many aspiring Jazz artists in today's modern society such as Melody Gardot and Norah Jones. Classic Jazz artists such as John Coltrane and Aretha Franklin contributed heavily towards this particular genre. People who listen to jazz may be listening in order to create their own sense of personality as it is definitely not a mainstream genre like it used to be. Jazz is extensively played in coffee shops as it is thought to be of a very relaxing nature.

Reggae - Reggae music originated in Jamaica during the 60's, it rapidly spread around the world and was a new and exciting sound and definitely a change from music such as pop and rock and roll. It is an exotic sound it is targeted at the population of Jamaica its place of origin primarily for the males of Jamaica. Bands such as ub40 incorporated the exotic sound into their music and have made reggae much more mainstream in the music industry. It is targeted towards young adults due to the content of the music, a common convention found in Reggae music would be that the music is usually written about love and sex. It is listened to by social classes C1 and below. Again Reggae is different to mainstream music and so those who listen to it may be for a distraction from mainstream music or they are trying to build up a unique personality. A solo artist who is renowned worldwide for his contribution to Reggae music is Bob Marley, who's music is thoroughly enjoyed to this present day.




Rock - Rock music originated in the 1950's in the USA and many different styles of rock and roll stemmed from this particularly in the UK. It takes elements from blues and also country. Its target audience ranges from those that lived thorough the rock era and also youth that have recently become interested in this genre after the birth of new rock bands such as bring me the horizon and muse. Magazines such as Kerrang portray the style of rock that is popular today. It is primarily targeted at males simply due to the lack of female rock bands that exist. It is enjoyed by no particular social class or it may be easier to say that it is enjoyed by all social classes.Modern Rock is more enjoyed by social classes C1 and below however the rich and famous enjoy the genre of rock simply as it is one of the most popular genres of music. Bands such as ACDC and Guns and Roses transformed the music industry and exactly what rock music was. Many people listen to Rock music due to the lifestyle that comes with it, stereotypes such as punk or emo are increasingly popular in today's society simple because of the success of Rock and the role models that are presented.

Indie - Indie music is primarily produced by those who are not in the industry to become rich and famous but instead to make good music that is relatable and different to what is already popular or mainstream. It combines aesthetics of rock, grunge and pop. Over the years it has changed in style and popularity and style. Eventually indie music becomes mainstream causing a change in style almost giving a new lease of life to the genre itself. The primary target audience it not exactly clear, however it is known to be listened to by the youth of today, those who do not simply want to relive the lives of previous generations and listen to mainstream music. It is not targeted at particular gender however would primarily be listened to by social classes C1 - E. The target ethnicity would be white people, influenced heavily by the artists that contribute to the genre the most and personally I would not say it is targeted towards a particular sexuality. People listen to indie music as a distraction from mainstream music and for pure entertainment, the music is original and more effort is put into the production of this type of music rather that pop music which all sounds the same and is heavily edited. Key bands directly contributing to this genre cover bands such as Two door cinema club, arctic monkeys, the strokes and the xx.

Soul - Soul music originated in the USA in the 50's and 60's. It takes elements from both jazz and gospel, it was also influential during the civil rights movement, however it is still recognised today as a popular genre of music. Soul music was at its prime during the 60's and early 70's and it is primarily listened to by those who were around at the time of its origin. However more directly connected to African-Americans, those who saw this music as influential. However it is becoming much more popular genre in today's youth who may be looking for something different to listen to rather than mainstream pop music. It is not directly aimed at a particular gender as both males and females contribute heavily to this particular genre. At first it would of been listened to by those who were in social classes C and below. However now it is enjoyed by all social classes simply due to the raw power and technicality of soul music that is such an original sound. Modern artists such as Amy Winehouse is renowned for her contributions to this genre, getting her inspiration from classic artists such as Etta james and Aretha Franklin.

Finished Product

Flatplan

Looking at the results of my survey monkey questionnaire I decided to sketch a simple design of what my cover and contents page would look like before the actual production of my magazine.

Below is the flat plan of my cover page, I had looked at the results from my questionnaire from survey monkey and decided on the name Student View which I already had in mind, I have taken into consideration the common conventions such as a sizeable masthead which is clear and of relevance to the target audience, I have also taken into consideration of the common conventions such as the sweet spot, the top left of the magazine in which is primarily the attention of the magazine, excluding the main image. I had also looked at popular colours and disregarded any colours that are gender stereotypical or at least tried to balance it out in order to create a colour palette of blue, red and purple.

The contents page stuck the main design that I had decided on on the front page, I wanted a simple design and a recurring colour palette. I wanted more images of the target audience at the bottom of the contents page as without images the page overall would of looked far to formal. It was hard to determine fonts pre production as I did not know how the colours would look together and also what the images where going to look like exactly, whether a complicated font would contrast badly with the simple design of the magazine overall.

The flat plans gave me a good idea of what I wanted my magazine to look like and mainly helped me with the positioning, size and layout of the magazine as it is hard to determine how big something will be when working on a computer screen, compared to actually drawing it on A4 paper.

Original Images

This was the first image I took, however it is clear I did not give much guidance to the model as t the smile that I wanted. The smile seems somewhat forced and the lighting is too off centred. It sticks to the criteria of a medium close up shot however the combination of both poor lighting and saturation and the forced smiled influenced me to not use this particular picture on my magazine.

This image was also not used as the posture of the model seems to be slightly leaning forward which was not what I was looking for, also the image is not of the best quality and again the lighting is far too exposed and splits the models face into two halves, light and dark giving an unprofessional look.

Again this image meets the criteria of a medium close up and it would be a suitable image to use as the models face is positioned towards the light this time bringing him more into focus, this gives a professional look to the image however I feel as though there was not enough of the actual model in the picture for it to be limitless, I was boxed in with what I could do during production of the cover.

This image was the image used on the cover, this time I made sure I had more of the model's body in the picture itself in order to be able to move him around and crop out parts that were no required and the image will still be seen as a medium close up, the saturation on this image is lower than the image above however I felt confident that it could be easily restored in order to give a professional design to my cover. It represents the target audience well, it is a teenager in generic clothing who looks like a typical student.

Audience Research

It was important to find out exactly who my target audience is, to do this we devised a questionnaire using survey monkey. Obviously our primary target audience is going to be students at the college who's ages range from 11-19. My magazine is not gender orientated. Personally I think that students will be interested in events and stories that are directly involved within their school life. The secondary target audience will be parents of the students who again are going to want to know exactly what is going on within the school.

This question was simply to clarify the age range of students at the school however it was a bit vague as the people asked where simply people in my class, given a second opportunity I would of widened my range of participants in the questionnaire. 

This question was asked to clarify the gender split between the students at the college, again though the amount of participants does not give a clear representation of this, however it does show a difference which is why I did not want to make my magazine targeted to a particular audience. 

No one that was a participant in the questionnaire was above the social grade C2, this made me think about the style of my magazine, I wanted it to be very simple and generalised and not targeted at a particular social grade. I did not make the magazine cover pretentious as I thought this would of deter people from reading it. Instead i headed down a more bold and colourful route in order to attract the most of my target audience.

This question was not surprising looking at the college magazine at the school already which lacks almost every common convention out there. People are not excited about the college magazine, they only sometimes read it. This made me think that people will read it if there is a story in the magazine that is in their particular interest, however it is hard to tell exactly what makes them want to read to college magazine, when they "sometimes" do.

It asked this question in order to clarify what exactly was wrong with the magazine in order to find out what exactly I needed to focus on when designing my cover. I agree with what the participants of the questionnaire have answered. The name lacked any sort of individuality or thought. The images where of poor quality and took up the entirety of the cover page.

It was not surprising that 40% of the people simply don't read the Bodmin College Magazine. The majority of people read it for entertainment, they are reading it for the sake of reading. Some people also read it for information. I think a blend of interesting stories that are entertaining would attract more people of my target audience into reading a college magazine.

This question helped me vastly in choosing my colour palette, however I do not think the participants took into consideration how these colours would look on a magazine, colours such as pink and purple would be stereotypically a female's favourite colour which may of been their influence when answering this question. The remaining three colours when put together looked good together and are very general colours that don't represent a particular gender or age group.

This question simply backs up the detest towards the college magazine, it also helped me make the decision in whether to add a barcode or not. People may not want to pay for a college magazine as it has generated a bad reputation full of boring stories, lack of individuality and poor image quality.

I did only give three options towards the choice in name for my college magazine as giving a choice would not of been helpful in choosing the most popular name. I took the most popular option out of the choices given and used this on my magazine cover. I wanted the most popular option to be used as this would of been what the target audience wanted and would be given the magazine a better chance of actually being read.