Front Cover Pre-loaded font choices

Apart from my front cover images, and text, I also have to consider the font of the text. Since I am doing an Alternative rock magazine I will need to match my font appropriately. From my research, I have looked at several fonts, and have noticed that they generally in blocked capitals, and, in the case of the Q magazine, and the Kerrang! magazine I looked at, the text has a warn/old quality to it. With that in mind, I have began my search for fonts on the program photoshop, which is the program I shall be utilizing to create my cover.

Firstly, I have to select the colour I desire for my font. This shall be Red for my test, and possibly Red for my final magazine, as it is a strong colour which stands out, and contrasts well with a dark coloured background, which is what I shall more than likely use.

Firstly, I have to select fonts which I feel would suit my magazine from those that are available to me. Without too much searching in the pre-loaded section, I found a font known as Madison Ave. This font appealed to me, as it appeared to have the warn look I am after, however The text to me looks a little too rounded, as I envisioned the text to be more square-shaped than that font.

The next font I came across searching in  photoshop's pre-loaded fonts is one known as Stellar Kombat. This font is far more to my liking, as it has a far more angular text, and yet this text is missing the warn look. Whilst I could always make the text warn look myself, I will continue my search or the fonts made available to me, and I shall save this font as a possible back up.

Here is an example of a font that I like, however, I can't see it working for the title of my magazine. Bleeding Cowboys is the title of the font to the left. This font could work for a different style of music magazine, such as a heavy rock, or some such magazine.

Here is an example of a font that is more like what I am looking for. It has a warn-like look, yet still isn't exactly what I am looking for, as it doesn't have  single, uniform shape/size. I feel that, although this font possesses the warn look I want, it doesn't seem to fit the purpose of the font.

Initial selection of photographs

After consolidating all my research together, I have chosen a small selection of around 50 photos from my initial 200. Here is my small selection of all 200. I believe that these would be the best selection of my photos, which i shall use for my front cover, and contents page pictures:

How are artists normally portrayed on the front of Music Magazines?

Artists are portrayed in a myriad of ways on front covers. Some have Artists face the camera, showing specific emotions, such as shock or happiness, where as others show a specific body pose, and certain body language. To help me understand what constitutes a good front cover picture, I shall look over previous magazines and work out what kind of photo will allow me to access or attain a high grade.

Kerrang!

Firstly, I shall look at the magazine Kerrang!, which is one of the most readily available music magazines in the UK. The issue I have chosen to look at shows the lead singer of the band Paramore turned slightly to her right, holding a photograph of herself. The clothing that is being worn is very simple, though that is more to do with the style of the artist rather than the style of the magazine.

The body language is closed, with her arms being drawn across her chest, to hold the photo next to her face. She has her head turned to one side, and is displaying a look of disgust, and or shock to the reader. Whilst I will not be utilizing a story such as the one featured on the front of this issue of Kerrang!, I might utilize something to do with another photo, as this seems to stand out above everything else on the page, even though there are larger, and more obvious pictures on the front cover.



NME

On the front cover of this NME magazine, the main image is of the lead singer of the band Oasis. His is directly facing the camera, with his head turned slightly to one side. His body posture is very open, and his hands are out in front of him, holding a cup of tea.

The reader's eye is drawn to his face straight away, as it contrasts well with the deep crimson coloured background. He is also wearing a white suit, which is of the same colour as the tea cup, which makes the central image stand out even more. There is also a crimson ring, the same colour as the background located on the right hand.

The main picture only has to contend with a few other smaller photos for the reader's attention. The contrast in colours is something I shall try to take into consideration when I am taking my photographs. I shall only use small photographs to promote additional stories on my front cover.

On the front cover of this NME magazine is the artist known as Mia. The main image is of Mia, sitting down, with her hair blowing back, whilst she is smoking a cigarette.

Her gaze is almost looking down on the reader, as if to show a look of either disapproval, or disgust, which links well into the magazine's main story. Her body is slightly hunched over, which reinforces the idea of disapproval, and suggests to the reader a look of defeat, or futility, once again relating back to the main story of the magazine.

The clothing is a union jack style dress, with a denim jacket over the top. This plain coloured jacket draws the reader's eye to her face, so I shall attempt to utilize a plain colour,as to make my artist's face stand out. I shall also attempt to use pale lighting, as that is utilized in this magazine to good effect.


Q

Here is the front cover of the magazine Q. The artist featured on the front is Matt Bellamy from the band Muse. I really like this front cover, as it seems to be drastically different to all the other covers I have looked at.

The main image, which takes up nearly the entire cover, is of Matt Bellamy smashing the Q logo with his guitar. He isn't looking at the camera, but instead at the logo of the magazine. His body is bent over, as he is finishing swinging his guitar round.

He is wearing a black jacket, which is covered in red lines/linings. This, once again, is more to do with the style of the artist rather than that of the magazine. The look on his face appears to be one of either intense concentration, or one of anger, which would explain why the logo has been smashed.

The background is also fairly plain, which is something I shall take into consideration when taking my photos, for my magazine. I shall also, as with Q and NME, give my artists a unique style, that makes them stand out, like the jacket in this picture.

BBC Music Magazine

Here is the front cover of an issue of the BBC Music Magazine. The artist featured on the front is Sarah Chang. I am not particularly fond of this cover, as it the colouring is too plain for my liking.

Her gaze is directed at the reader, or as though she is looking off into the distance. She is wearing bright colours, which do contrast well with the background, as it is rather plain. She is also holding a violin, which relates to her music.

There are also very few other photographs on the front cover, which doesn't distract from the main image. This is the only thing that I find to be to my liking about this cover, although it is also a feature of a number of other magazines, so it isn't unique to this magazine.

Magazine Title: Renegade

After composing my list of possible titles, I narrowed my list of names down to 6 choices. These were:

• Renegade- 7 votes
• Absolution- 2 votes
• Dissidence- 2 votes
• Execell- 1 vote
• Arcadia- 2 votes
• Euphoria- 2 votes

I sent round a survey with my planned names on, and the results were rather unanimous: Renegade was the clear winner, with 7 votes. None of the other results came close to Renegade, with all but Excell being given only 2 votes. So the title of my Alternative Rock music magazine shall be Renegade.

This result surprised me, as I thought people would vote for Absolution, Arcadia and Euphoria, as I believed they were the most fitting for an Alternative Rock music magazine, however this is why I did the research: to allow for public opinion to influence my work.   

Target audience

Through my research on the website UK Tribes, I have chosen my Target audience. Utilizing my skills, and the research I have done, I have decided to make an Alternative Rock Magazine, and therefore my target audience would be the Young Alts section of UK Tribes.

According to UK Tribes, Young Alts are fans of bands such as Greenday, You Me At Six and Bring The Horizon, and like brands such as H and M, Kerrang!, NME and Vans. They also utilize media such as Facebook, YouTube and Kerrang!

UK Tribes state they utilize the internet and magazines more than any other form of media, so I would know how to advertise my magazine effectively. I also know not to advertise in cinema, or in newspapers.

Here is an example of a member of my target audience, which I created using the H and M dress up page, utilized for designing entire looks at once, using H and M merchandise:

Alternative Rock is a type of Rock Music, which emerged in the 1980's, which is most commonly associated with Loud music, and distorted guitar sounds. Now more commonly associated with 'underground rock', alternative rock is actually a brand of rock which differs greatly from its sound, social context and regional roots.

Examples of Alternative rock bands/artists include: Muse, The Joy Formidable, 30 Seconds to mars, All Time Low, Blink 182 and Linkin Park and Panic! At the Disco.

To the right is a photograph of a member of my target audience. His name is Matt, and when asked where he shops, and what he buys, he told me he buys clothes from shops like H and M, and Top-shop. He buys music magazines like Kerrang!, and NME, thus making these an ideal audience to market my magazine at.

Here is an example of some alternative rock:





This is one of my preferred genres of choice, so I feel I will be able to perform well in the task of making an Alternative Rock magazine.

Youth market categorization

To further my understanding of my target audience and to enable me to design the magazine to entice my target audience into buying it, I have been researching a website known as UK Tribes.

Uk Tribes is a experiment set up by Channel 4 and Crowd DNA, in 2009. It was attempted twice, once in 2005, and again in 2008. On the first trial, around 50,000 responses were gathered. The second trial produced around 38,000 responses. The aim of the experiment was "to explore the youth in honest terms, and as described to us by young people themselves." From the results gathered, twenty one groups were noted, and categorized into larger sections, or groupings. These include groups such as:

• Street Rats
• Emos
• Skaters
• Geeks
• Chavs
• Indie Scenesters

Since I shall be either designing a classical music magazine, or an alternative rock magazine, I have chosen to look at the groups that would allow me to market my magazine to both these audiences. The section that would give me the most insight into the target audience for a classical music magazine would be the 'Rahs' section.

From the website, Rahs are described as "Once derided, it's now cool to be posh. Here's the tribe that unites everyone from P Diddy to the young royals." From the Rahs page, the brands that are favored by the Rahs include:

• Timberland
• Jack Wills
• Cartier
• Ralph Lauren
• Fat Face

The Media utilized by the Rahs include:

• Facebook
• Grazia
• Bebo
• The Daily Telegraph
• Myspace

From this, I have gathered a great deal of information about what kinds of brands and such would be inside a classical magazine. I have also discovered what the best way would be to advertise this information, as UK Tribes also shows the different types of media utilized by each group. From this I can see that the best way to advertise my Classical music magazine would be to advertise it on the internet, on the radio, and at a cinema. Controversially, the worst way to advertise would be on TV, as the Rahs section of UK Tribes states that they have a smaller interest in television than any other form of media.    

For an Alternative rock magazine, I wouldn't be trying to appeal to Rahs. Instead, I would be trying to appeal to another group known as the Young Alts. Described by UK Tribes as: "Young Alts are after something different, but beyond that, they're not exactly decided." "Thanks to the internet the alternative lifestyle is now totally accessible and influential, and this is a huge, welcoming and diverse Tribe..." Young Alts are exactly who I would be aiming an Alternative music magazine at. 

Young Alts preferred brands include:

• H and M
• HMV
• Kerrang!
• NME
• YouTube 

The media brands preferred by Young Alts includes:

• Xfm
• Bebo
• YouTube
• Facebook
• BBC Radio 1

From this, I can see that Young Alts have a very unique style which is something I would take into consideration when designing my magazine. To advertise an Alternative rock magazine, I would utilize the Internet, and magazines as my key ways of advertising. I would make special use of websites such as Facebook to advertise my magazine to the target audience to the best of my abilities.  I would also advertise brands such as H and M, HMV and Kerrang!

Magazine Analysis 2: Classical music

General

• BBC Music Magazine, is published by BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC.
• The target audience are fans of classical music, with sections focused on Jazz, and world music.
• BBC Music Magazine costs £4.99 per issue.
• BBC Music Magazine is a monthly publication. 
• BBC Music Magazine has a circulation of 47,104.

The Cover

• The Magazine was titled as it is, as it is a music magazine, which is published by the BBC, and as all BBC intellectual property is titled with the prefix BBC, which is the brand identity, and the company only has to add the suffix of the chosen object, in this case music, as it is a music magazine.

• The title, or logo is the word 'Music' at the very top of the page. The letters 'M', and 'I' are both in a strong serif font, whereas the other letters appear to have a less formal font. This draws the reader's eye to the 'us' section of the title, as it stands out being surrounded by the formal font shape. The 'U''S' and 'C' all also look like writing found on a music score sheet, so the reader could interpret the title as the kind of writing you could find on sheet music. This cleverly appeals to a niche audience, as this style of text can be equated with the genre of music being advertised.

• The main image is of the late Sir Georg Solti. His gaze is directed at the reader, which is designed to make the reader feel as involved in the photo as possible. The facial expression shows that of contentment, or reflection, which intrigues the reader further, luring them in to buy the magazine. Sir Georg Solti has his hands clasped together, resting on the side of his head. This is a very relaxed gesture, which reinforces the idea of contentment in the photograph. The clothes being worn are a dark coloured shirt, which contrasts with the bright gold and white text surrounding the picture, which allows the magazine to stand out from other magazines. 

• The only other image that appears on the front cover is a graphic of the CD that comes free with the magazine. This is placed where the CD would go for sale, and is only visible after the removal of said CD. This is to allow the reader to know instantly if their CD has gone missing, and to know what to look for before buying, in case the CD has been stolen. The picture itself is incredibly small, as not to draw the reader's eye from the main image.

• The content promoted by the coverlines, designed to lure the audience in, includes a celebration to the life and times of Sir Georg Solti, the other artists who are featured in the magazine (Chick Corea, Richard Morrison etc), and a large section of blocking, which states other key articles that are featured in this particular issue. This is one to draw the reader's attention to what is in the magazine, and hopefully convince them to buy it. 

• The type face utilized by the magazine to promote the coverlines are all formal, which are sans serif. The only one that breaks this rule is the headline promotion of Sir Georg Solti, which is written in a more elegant font, designed with a hand written quality. The other way that this differs from the other coverlines is that it is written in gold, suggesting its importance to the magazine, or the fact that it is the magazine's main story. The rest of the text is written in white, to contrast with the darkness of the background, and to make it stand out. There is a
• lso some darker coloured fonts over the golden coverlines on the right hand side of the page, but these are only titles of the stories, which are designed to draw the reader's attention to the stories below.

• The cover's mode of address is a very formal tone. The language used to entice the reader include words such as 'Exhilarating', and 'Conducting Legend'. These words/phrases evoke certain emotions from the reader, such as excitement, and anticipation. Other cover lines utilize words such as 'Harrowing', and 'Tortured'. These are also used to evoke sadness and empathy from the reader, and also rouse their curiosity in such a way so that they buy the magazine. Compared to a magazine such as Kerrang! the language used is formal, and seems to pull the reader in by stirring more emotion in the reader, whereas Kerrang! is designed to pull the reader in by making use of various fonts, and the promise of exclusive news, than is offered on the cover of the BBC Music Magazine.   

• The magazine title looks unique. For one, the text on the page isn't overwhelming, as it was with Kerrang! and the photograph is placed behind the text, as opposed to in front of it, which is a feature used in other music magazines. The text is all in line, with it all straight, par one advertisement for BBC Radio 3 in the top right hand corner. This helps to create a very neat layout, which other magazines, particularly rock magazines don't have.  The colour of the main picture of the magazine is dark, whereas most magazines prefer bright colours to draw the reader's attention. However, the subtlety of this magazine definitely makes it stand out.

• The only other thing that is distinctive about this magazine's format is a flaked effect toward the bottom of the page, where several areas, particularly behind the cover lines on the right hand side of the page, have small, white shapes around the photo. The fact that this is prominent in two areas suggest that is is not a printing error, but in fact another way of enhancing the cover image. Additionally, the BBC Radio 3 advertorial looks like it comes from another magazine, which makes it stand out.

Potential magazine titles

The Genre I have initially chosen to write my music magazine on is classical music, simply because I have an interest in said genre, and I feel that the style of the cover would be far more suited to my style of working. The names I have initially began to think of include:

• Claves
• Major
• Falsetto
• Symphony
• Allegretto: Allegretto is the title for a tempo, which is faster than allegro. I really like this title, as it is a strong, and distinctive title.
• Minor
• Baroque
• Requiem: A requiem is the name of a musical composition setting parts such as mass. I think this would be a good title for a classical music magazine, as the name is suitable. 
• Sonata
• Schubert
• Amoretti
• Chorus: The chorus is the central piece of music in a song, and is also used as the name for a Choir, so I think this would suit the name of a classical magazine. 
• Tenebrae
• Valletta 
• Overture: This is the technical term for the start of piece of music, or the prelude of a piece of music, that leads into the main section. 

My personal favorite out of these names is Allegretto, as it literally means: "A fast tempo", and I think that it is a good title for a classical music magazine.

However, the other Genre I am considering to utilize for my magazine is Alternative. This is because I prefer this to classical music, and with some effort, I feel that I could achieve a high standard of work. The potential names for these include:

• Illumination
• Looking Glass
• Requiem
• Flow
• Pulse
• Bane
• Sonic
• Reckless
• Outsider
• Newcomer
• Drifter
• Renegade: This title means an outsider, and my target audience are seen by UK Tribes as outsiders, so the title fits the audience.
• Unknown
• N.M.H
• Absolution
• Dissidence
• Virtue
• Cardinal
• Exceed/ Excell
• Arcadia: This title has no real meaning, yet this title is by far one of the most unique of my selection. 
• Edge
• Razor/RaZor
• Eternity
• Euphoria: Euphoria means a feeling of happiness, so I think this a good title, as it would reflect the feelings of my audience.

Out of these, my favorite title is probably Euphoria, as it literally translates to a feeling of happiness, and yet it sounds unique enough to stand out from other magazines. It also sounds like the possible name of a band/song that would be featured in my magazine. The words that have been highlighted/increased in size are the names I am considering using for my magazine. I shall devise a poll to see what the public think, and that will ultimately influence my choice of name.