Picture planning

For my final production I will need a number of different shots; these shots will need to fit a purpose in order to fit in with my magazine style and its ethos. For the front cover I intend to get a full body shot for my central image. As well as the central image I will need to include one or more secondary images, I intend for at least one midshot of a different model for the front cover, none of the front cover images should have a background. For my contents page I will need a number of images (3 maximum) of either band members or a band, it will be much easier to focus on one person for each of these as the lead singer, this means I will need to arrange less models. The images will need to have backgrounds in order to fit the mock up and the conventions which I researched for contents pages. For the double page spread I will need to focus on one person in particular as it will take the form of an interview, I would like two different images for the double page spread including pone midshot and another.

For the pictures I will need at least five different models dressed in casual clothes.

Double page spread

Here is my mock up for my double page spread, at present it has no details of what the contents of the pages will entail as I have just used placeholders. There are a few issues with this at the moment which I will have to address with the final piece. Some of the things that I am happy with is the colour scheme as it fits with the rest of the mock ups.

Mock up contents

Here is my mock up contents template, I feel as though it fits well with the theme of the magazine and does not feel out of place compared to the front cover. There are however a few things that I feel can be improved; such as the unnecessary white space above the main contents which could be improved with either sell lines or another image. Another part that can be improved is the way the pictures are placed, perhaps they could be improved with boarders around them  making it obvious that they are separate images and not part of the same mess of pictures. My focus group which I recently showed a half finished version to liked what I had done and suggested a few other things to improve such as keeping a consistent colour scheme. Their favourite part was banner at the top of the page.

Q contents page; codes and conventions

Here is a number of Q magazines contents pages, I have said what I like and dislike about them and from this I will decide how to structure my own contents page

Mock up front covers

There is a number of problems with my first draft of my mock up from the inappropriate quote (placeholder!), to the spacing. Other issues that plague the original is the fact that there is no consistent font style throughout and comes across as random and messy. The masthead is far too small and is not using my desired design for it. The colour scheme of the page is completely off with the use of a grey background and black and white picture.

This is the second mock up of my desired front cover; I feel it fits my target audience and desired house style far better than its predecessor, the colour scheme works throughout the page, as well as this there is a consistent theme within the font and thier colours. This draft still has a few problems and things i'm not entirely happy with and I will change these when I come to create my final piece.

Masthead

Here are a few different ideas of potential mastheads, the final one is the most popular with my focus group. The final one also includes a bit more detail as it had the most positive feedback from the focus group. The final masthead idea will be the one I will use for my production as I feel it fits with my desired house style and overall feel of the magazine. The colours fit with my colour scheme and I feel fit in well with my target audience based on the positive reaction from my focus group.

Focus group

I have set up a focus group with a number of people in my year group; this allows me to talk through my ideas with people in my target audience, although it does cause some problems with the fact that the focus group is not made up of everyone in my target audience 13-18 year olds. Some of the decisions that I have made from the focus group ranges from my style of magazine to my colour scheme. From the results of my focus group about which style of magazine I should create, the focus group had a more positive response to Q magazine. Q magazine focuses on mainly semi-mainstream music of a more rock/pop artists, these kinds of bands are more generally excepted among the target audience and are not so much of a closed audience type such as Kerrang with a mainly heavy metal artist style. From the results of my focus group I have been able to decide on a colour scheme that I will use throughout my production, the focus group seem to prefer the idea of white, black and red colour scheme over other alternatives. I have been able to work this colour scheme into my logo, as well as the rest of my product. If I ask my focus group about anything else throughout the process I will write in the description of what it is that they have helped.

Target audience

Based on the style and the artists I intend to feature in my magazine I have decided upon what my target audience will most likely be. The target audience will most likely be predominantly male teenagers whose ages range from about 13-18. I intend to appeal to this age/sex mainly in my product although I want to make my magazine appealing to as many people as possible, this would mean I have a group of definite readers without unnecessarily shortening my readership.