My Front Cover Evaluation

INTRODUCTION

This is my final front cover. I had a few ideas for the end cover but I ended with this one. I am very pleased with it for many reasons. There were many difficult decisions involved in creating my front cover, colour theme, positioning and my cover image but I finally decided on this one.

COVER IMAGE

Firstly, I used these three girls, Imogen, Natasha and Zainab for my front cover band, Starter. I wanted to promote a band that has diveresity amongst the members. Here we have a mixture of skin colours and I wanted to represent all different people. I styled them in these bright, 80's style clothes as I thought this would symbolise their bands style which is modern but with a retro twist. Additionally, I asked them to look moody in the pictures, this was to create a sense of rebellion, it also counter-balances the bright, "happy" colours they are wearing. And this is linked to the double page spread interview, because we see they are actually really nice, friendly people but they have a rebellious edge which is the effect I wanted to create.

BAND TITLE

Furthermore, I wanted to continue this edgy look with the style of their title. I had many different ideas for the title but I finally decided on this. This was for many reasons, firstly, I really liked the colour, It was also bright and I drew from colours in the picture, the coat of one of the band members, I did this as it would connect to the band and there would be more of a colour scheme. I then turned the "e" around. I did this because I wanted a similar effect to ones of bands from the 80's such as "Talking Heads" And "Blondie" but with a modern twist of the colour scheme. This style really made the band appear unique and that is definetely the effect I wanted. I put a glow on the font as well, this was to also make it stand out because I really wanted the band to be assosiated with that name.

COLOUR THEME

I wanted to go for a colour theme that suited my band. I used bright colours such as orange, pink and yellow to suggest raves and rebellion. The colours are matched to the colours that the band are wearing. I also used a lot of pink to create a sense of girlieness because after all, they are a girlband, with an edge.

OTHER FEATURES

In the corner, I used photoshop to put some duct tape in the corner. I did this to create an edgy, and "cheeky" feeling about the magazine. The duct tape makes it look professional as in many magazines they have images like this edited in. For example, the sticker used in this front cover. It looks messy but obviously in intentionally to make it look a bit rebellious. However, I think mine takes it to the next level because it is very "cool" and also shows an aggressive side to the magazine. Also, the way "We are the present, past and future" is written looks quite futuristic on that band across. It also gives it importance on the front cover. Finally, I believe the issue number, the price and the bar code add authenticity to the front cover.

Screen Grabs

I did not use screen grabs earlier in the magazine but coming closer to the end of the front cover I discovered the value and importance of them in showing the development in my magazine. Choosing different fonts, colours and positioning for my magazine were difficult decisions and I had to really think about the juxtaposition of clashing colours.
I showed 5 people my finished product and they said that they liked it, they also said that if they could change one thing it would probably be the way that "presenting starter" would be displayed. I agreed with them as I could see a big clash and the black background behind "presenting" looked quite uprofessional.

Layout

I then went to look at the two main layouts for a magazine. Most Magazines have the title at the top but there are different ways of producing the magazine.

Firstly, I looked at this sort of layout where nearly the whole title is covered. This layout is normally used when the magazine is very well known and has an established audience, the magazine doesn't need to attract new readers. If my magazine were to be published it would obviously be new which suggests the title would need to be seen. However, with my title this might have to happen, as the title is quite wide so covering one letter with the head of the interviewed person might not be that bad.

I then looked at a different layout, this layout does not cover the magazine title and the title is put to the left, this layout would be more attracting but as you can see this magazine has a lot going on, this suggests that it is looking for a new audience or hasn't been established but as we know NME is one of the most famous music magazine existing today. I think this style of layout shows a magazine that is screaming for an audience and looks like it is trying too hard.

This was another style I looked at. Here, we see the title is covering the cover images head, this gives the title of the magazine more importance and implies that the artist on the front is not as important as the name of the magazine.

I decided for my magazine to have the title at the top and the cover stars lower down. I didn't want the title to outshine the cover stars and I didnt want the cover stars to be dominating either so I went for this approach.

Feature article

In my survey I asked the people What feature they would like to see on a band or artist. There was a large range of answers resulting in most people wanting Chances to win tickets to a concert or gig and people wanting a feature on the band backstage on tour. The other options were an interview with the lead singer, fans write in questions and the band answers and the history of the band or artist. Although there were two clear winners with this interview question I think that I am going to incorporate all these features in one feature. Another question I asked was what other magazines do people read and most of the interviewees said Technology and Fashion. I then decided to intergrate these two topics in my music magazine. I thought I could gain a wider audience if I chose to broaden my theme and cross genres as this always attracts a larger audience.

So my final idea was to do an interview with the band/artist, have approximately 5 questions sent in from readers for the band/artist to answer. I will have three sections of the interview including, basic music, fashion and technology. I think this will be successful because it has been discovered that readers prefer it when interviews are broken down into seperate subject and it gives them an opportunity to focus on the topic they like the most.
I will then have a section about a gig and how it is to be backstage, at the end of the article it will give the readers a chance to go to a gig and be backstage with the artist. I think this will be good because it has so much to offer and if I just focussed on the interview or history of the band/artist I don't think it will be successful, it could drag on. Finally, I will incorporate history of the band/artist in the introduction and in the interview.

Font for my magazine title

The title for anything gives hints to the message of the object and is one of the key elements to stick in the readers head. I looked at various fonts, some simple, some complicated and tried to find the balance between the two. I did a small survey of 25 people and asked them which front cover they were most drawn to most and which was the most effective, I did this as I thought it would be useful in creating Colours are also important however, for most magazines every issue the colour changes so although I will have a colour theme for this issue, it will not be the general colour theme for my magazine. I simply looked at the fonts in black and white so i could focus on the details.



When analysing this title I thought it would suggest something different. This would be a key element as the public are always searching for something new, there are no magazines with a font this distinct. However, I then came across the problem when looking at the results of my survey. Only 4 people were drawn to this font. One of the people I asked, Bella Ryan said "I think it's quite unusual and gives me ideas of what the magazine could be about.", however, the people that didn't choose it had very different ideas, one person said "I don't think its timeless or versatile". Although I received four positive reviews the comments from the other people made me realise that this is not a timeless design and really makes my decision certain that this is the wrong font for my magazine.

I chose this font in the first place as it looked quite different to the first one and I wanted a range of fonts. I thought it had a subtle modern tone. Also, i felt that my magazine name said quite a lot so the font didn't need to be too eye-catching. However, only 5 people in my Survey chose this font. There collective reason was that it would work really well in quite a classic magazine presenting classic music that has already been established. However, when I revealed what my magazine genre was about they said that they really thought the front cover picture and subtitles would really have to stand out to get any attention at all. I concluded that this font was to "boring" and wouldn't connote anything unique to my reader.

I created this font from two different fonts, although the title says a lot about the name, it does become a bit too focused on the whole image of Jigsaw. However, 7 people chose this one showing its popularity. I think it is quite versatile and noticable as it is bold. The reason for dismissing this font was that I thought i focussed too extensively on the idea of the jigsaw and didn't maybe personalised it too much. I wanted to have something a bit simpler as the title does do a lot of the talking. Additionally, it seems quite immature and implies the audience is much younger.

This was my final choice for many reasons. Firstly, 9 people in my survey chose this one, making it the majority vote. Jess Masterson said "It sticks in my mind because its different also, it looks really modern and kind of fits well.". Also, I thought that it really looked like a music magazine but a modern one which is what i wanted. My magazine will present new music from all genres and that is what I wanted to create and this font seems to have quite a general appeal but at the same time is memorable. I really wanted to find the balance between characteristic and recognisable as a music magazine and I think with this I have.

Font

Fonts are extremely important for magazine titles. The font has to express a lot without being too hard to read or taking over imposing. The title has to be memorable by portraying an original message however, it also has to be timeless and everlasting. I studied magazine titles and focused on the advantages and similarities and also on the defaults or conforming of the titles making them less recognisable. It became a difficult balance between standing out and becoming too unusual it wouldn't be recognised or noticed as a music magazine.
I looked at 2 successful magazine titles and 2 music magazines that haven't been as successful and studied the reasons for this.

Firstly, I looked at one of the most successful music magazines, NME. I thought this title must be effective because of the success the magazine had experienced. Looking at the title, I can see it conforms to the colour theme of music magazines. Most titles of music magazines have the red, black and white colour theme. This suggests that the content of the magazine is more important than the title and does the talking because the title doesn't really imply anything. The colour red is usually used as it connotes rebellion and attitude. Furthermore, the colour theme, red and white can be associated with England making the readers feel they can probably relate to the magazine more as the readers are generally British.

Then I looked at the very well-known magazine, "Kerrang!". On the Kerrang! website they said that they discuss music genres such as "Rock, goth, metal, punk, thrash, classic indie, unsigned bands". This font really suggests that the music is different, hard, and perhaps loud and messy. The "crack" in the letters connotes danger and carelessness. This does link to the music genre which is hard metal, punk and thrash. Also, like NME, the colour is plain, white and black. This suggests again that the inside does the talking. However, I think that font isn't as convenient as the NME title, which is timeless. Although the Kerrang! title does present the music genre the magazine is based on, it is very limited. For example, if they wanted to broaden or narrow the music genres the title might not fit with the new genre.

I then looked at a classical music magazine title. The font of this title is sophisticated and simple. This does link to classical music. It also attracts the typical listeneres of classical music as it is elegant. I think this title does not stand out at all, although it does suit the magazine it does not have anything individual about it which is probably why it isn't as successful as it could be. Furthermore, the colour is not memorable either, these reasons are why the magazine does not stand out. The colour is dull and does not give the reader any message.

Finally, I looked at the magazine, Music Box. It is a magazine featuring reviews, music news, tour dates, interviews, streaming audio and video, and more. It covers all different types of music. I find this title to be quite unproffesional. This font looks to complicated. This might be because the title is so long but I believe the font of "Exploring the world of music" to be unproffesional. This is probably one reason why the magazine is unsuccessful. However, the colour scheme is eye-catching and original.

In conclusion, it is a very hard balance between getting something that stands out and something that will be known as a music magazine that fits my genre. I then went on to look at different fonts I could use for my magazine front cover using the information I found here.

Music Magazine Title

It was a very important decision choosing the title of my magazine. There were many options for my title. I had to be very critical to narrow it down. The title of my magazine would be the basis for the whole genre and message. I had to think very carefully about what I was going to call it. These were my options:

Collect: The reasons in favour of this name were the fact that it definitely fits my magazine genre. My magazine genre is a collection of all genres put together, that is why this title defines my magazine. However, I thought this was too obvious, it makes the magazine seem simple and at the same time, doesn't sound like a music magazine.

Tune: Calling my magazine "Tune" was my first idea. I first decided on this as it sounded sharp and easy to read. It conforms to the norm of music magazine title and it would easily attract the reader. Also, it makes it obvious that it is a music magazine. I thought it would look appealing on the front cover. However, there were many disadvantages with this title. Firstly, it seems too conforming, my magazine is about different styles of music coming together this title does not personalise that.



A.M: This name stands for All Music but also has the connotations of A.M as in morning. This would be a good name as it has a double meaning, this gives it an edge and attracts readers because of the wit of the title. Also, it suggests the magazine is early, new and always on top of things, as if all the news in it is exclusive as the morning suggests early. However, I found this title to be unrecognisable and unmemorable. At first sight it gives you no hint to what the magazine is producing or saying.



Blender: This was one of my final choices, it really portrays the message of my magazine that it covers everything from dance and hip-hop to rock, alternative and R&B. This title would have been successful as it gives the reader an image which connotes many things and gives the magazine a personality by just the title, however, through my research of magazines I came across a magazine already called Blender. This made me recognise the importance of competition and research. It also helped me with inspiration for my magazine as I can now use Blender as help for my magazine as they have the same target audience and message.




Jigsaw: This title came to me through personal experience. It seemed to portray exactly what I wanted. It projects the image of a puzzle, which is what I desired. It creates the idea of irregular pieces put together to form the bigger picture which is a a metaphor for my magazine. The jigsaw pieces being different genres of music and the bigger picture being the whole music industry, all coming together to create a unity of all music. This gives me the creative ability to have a logo and for my font to fit the title and give it the whole package. This title is my final decision as it gives my magazine a character and suggests so many things about the contents of my magazine. Further more, it subverts the norm of successful British music magazines, NME, Q, Kerrang! and Mojo. These don't make you think of anything in particular, that is why i named my magazine Jigsaw. It is associated more with titles such as Blender and The Wire, these give a message in just one word and that was my aim with reaching the name of my magazine.

Survey Analysis

I did a survey and the answers have really helped me discover what I'd like my magazine to be like. Doing surveys narrows down your audience, especially if you use candidates appropriate for your magazine. I found it extremely helpful. I found out many things that will benefit me throughout my production of my Magazine. The three answers that helped me the most are specified here.

One question I asked was "Choose your favourite genres", people could tick 3 boxes, As you can see from the image the answers were extremely varied. This was off-putting at first as I thought I was going to stick to one genre but due to re-thinking and this survey answer, I realised that I am going to have to make my magazine much broader, tending to more genres and therefore more readers. I decided to make my magazine focus on a much wider genre, Pop. I did this because there is a gap in the market for a successful Pop Magazine. It'll discuss how Pop music now encompasses a the successful parts of all genres. Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lily Allen, Arctic Monkeys and Kings of Leon can all be counted as Pop Music although they are all completely different types of music. Pop music is popular music and they are now classed as Pop along with the original Girls Aloud and Take That sort of "Pop Music".

I then looked at what features people would want on their favourite band/artist. The most successful answers were to go Backstage on tour and the Chances to win tickets to concerts and gigs. The answer that people would want information of their band backstage on Tour was valuable because I thought people would be more interested in an interview with the lead singer or the artist. It made me re-evaluate my feature article and that I will probably do an interview with the whole band while they are backstage showing the magazine their tour bus and secrets about the band.
I will also put chances to win tickets to concerts and gigs, I will put free posters and a competition for people to win tickets to an up and coming artists gig.

The last question that had an effect on the change to my magazine was "What other magazine genres are you interested in?" I asked this question to see if it would be necessary to have sub-topics in my magazine to attract more readers. I was interested to find out if people would want to know about music technology such as new i-pod articles and the styles of guitars and other instruments. My suspicion was true and many people read Technology magazines. They were also interested in Lifestyle and Fashion. This made me think that I could do an article on different styles of bands which I will be doing. It will discuss what clothes say about that specific bands music and how they choose what they're going to wear on stage.

In conclusion I learnt a lot from my survey and I will use all the information that I found. I will think further about what I can do that will please my audience but so far I am extremely happy with what I have found out. I think it will really benefit my magazine and please the reader.

Jude Rogers visit

In our hour with Jude Rogers, a music journalist and writer for NME, The Guardian, Word and New Statesmen magazines I learnt many things. She talked about her career, her style of writing and also taught us valuable lessons in how we should reach our career goals and also how we should create our music magazines.

Jude Rogers had many interesting stories about her career life and how she has survived the brutal media business, she created a small magazine called "Smoke", and sent it off to many publishers, she finally got some feedback from the magazine, "Word" who recruited her as soon as they saw "Smoke". This suggests that enthusiasm and passion are the extremely important when it comes to media.

She also told us that our magazines should reflect the music that we are passionate about so are writing will be interesting and knowledgeable, I found her very inspirational and she gave me many ideas for my magazine.

Investigation into music genres and targeting audiences

Many genres of music are not appreciated or represented by the media very well, such as Grime and alternative. More recently, magazines have tried to incorporate these genres as we can see on the front of the typically rock-based magazine, NME, Dizzee Rascal's music genre, grime is presented well and with distinction. Also, inside Q magazine they advertise gig tickets to a range of artists, from pop/electronic music such as frankmusik to alternative artist, regina spektor. However, it is well known that the music most celebrated by the media is Rock music. Rock bands such as The Prodigy and Green Day often grace the cover of NME and Q. Although there are magazines for all genres, for example, XXL Worldwide for hip-hop and rap however the most famous and successful music magazines are definitely directed towards Rock music.

Audiences are targeted using the same techniques for most magazines. The audience for NME differs greatly from the audience of XXL Worldwide. the "Rolling Stones" magazine seems to create a newer wide audience. The original audience would have been much more specific however now, Lady Gaga and Eminem are the artists featuring in June the 11th 2009. This is completely varied compared to August, 1980 where Keith Richards and Mick Jagger graced the cover.

NME's audience has been growing narrower and narrower as time goes on, Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian criticised the magazine's lack of diversity, saying:

"NME bands" fall within very narrow parameters. In the 80s, the paper prided itself on its coverage of hip hop, R&B and the emerging dance scene which it took seriously and featured prominently - alongside the usual Peel-endorsed indie fare. Now, though, its range of approved bands has dramatically shrunk to a strand embodied by the [Arctic] Monkeys, Babyshambles and Muse - bands who you don't need specialist knowledge to write about and who are just "indie" enough to make readers feel they're part of a club. Like everything else in publishing, this particular direction must be in response to reader demand, but it doesn't half make for a self-limiting magazine."
However, much more recently, the magazine has been trying to broaden the audience with features on Jay-Z, Dizzee Rascal and Lily Allen which are drastically different from the usual Artic Monkeys and Muse. This shows that the magazine is probably suffering.
This leads on to the point of the death of the magazine. As people can look up whatever they want online, the sales of magazines seems to be plummeting, Music magazines seem to be particularly struggling, this is because other magazines can incorporate music into their magazine, attracting more and more readers away from magazines that solely provide music news.

Overall, music magazines used to be much more direct at a narrow audience however we now see magazines such as NME and Q broadening the audience using covering artists such as Lady GaGa and Dizzee Rascal. This shows that music magazine buyers are reducing and the audience needs to be increased for more sales and opportunities.

Semiotic Analysis

The front cover of NME magazine displays Dizzee Rascal smiling ecstatically. In extremely large letters it says his name and a quote by him, this suggests the main article in the magazine will be on Dizzee Rascal and him "spreading joy around the world". They create an extremely positive image of Dizzee Rascal. This could have been done to show that grime music is not a threat. Juxtaposed to this, Dizzee Rascal is wearing a chain and has trainers on, there is also graffiti as the background, this implies that maybe his music isn't as inviting and friendly as portrayed by the quote. This is because the chain and grafitti are assosiated with urban living in east london, danger and fights. On the other hand, it could be showing that this image should be publicly accepted.

Furthermore, the title of the magazine is almost unnoticeable, this suggests that the reader is a regular reader and the magazine is so successful it does not need to advertise its self. This may narrow down their target audience as it is just regulars. Next to the title it says "starring, Kasiabian, Maximo Park, Yeah Yeah Yeah's, Muse & More", this suggests that the magazine is extremely varied and eclectic.

As music tastes broaden, NME's audience broadens. IPC, the publishers of NME say, "Every week it gives its readers the most exciting, most authoritative coverage of the very best in contemporary music.". Music such as Grime, hip hop and rap would not have been as focused on as a few years ago. A variety of music is now appreciated on the front cover, such as Dizzee Rascal, Yeah, yeah, yeah's and Jay-z. All with extremely different styles from different genres. Also, the music promoted throughout the magazine suggests the unity of race and class, this is because music from all over the world, from celebrities to small bands are recognised in the magazine. Also, artists from all different races are also recognised showing the development of society.

To conclude, the front cover of NME in September's issue subverts to the norm in many ways, the fact that they use the typical, black, white and red colour theme shows that they want to stick to their old values however the genres represented are extremely modern and vary showing that although the magazine desires to keep their old, traditional audience they are attempting to broaden it to the new generations.