Press Release

Bauer Media Group will be publishing the brand new magazine, Broken Chord, in print in the next upcoming months. Broken Chord is an exciting new punk-rock inspired magazine including band interviews with new and existing bands along with concert information that should appeal to most people. This magazine should enlighten the readers on newer and lesser known bands.

Projected towards the age range of 16-18 year old's, this magazine aims to engage its readers and introduce you to a whole range of artists, along with behind the scenes and free concert tickets! Readers can expect to find in-depth articles but in a language appealing to younger viewers. Broken Chord is aimed at all genders and ethnic backgrounds, covering a wide range of the teenage audience.

The magazine will be distributed through several newsagents and shops such as Starlings and Morrisons – both well-known and reliable shops. For a cost of only £2.50 per issue it is easy on the wallet for students and lesser-earning readers.

Broken Chord will offer many concert ticket giveaways and possibly host events in the future for teens to jam together and create music, or even just enjoy the music playing. Our aim is to bring starting artists to the spotlight as well as provide the audience with an entertaining and engaging magazine.  

Secondary Research – Design Inspiration

Primary Research – Audience Profile

Audience Researcsh

Primary Research - Audience Part 2

These are the survey results to my survey in order to gain some insight into what my readers would want. This is so it will help me in order to make/design my own magazine. From these results it would appear that most of the people tend to read Kerrang! - A popular rock magazine. As this is the case, I should seriously have another look at the magazine to try and see aspects that could influence my own. The price range should be low as only 25% of the public went for the higher option. I would also need to include a freebie of some kind as many people would be more inclined to purchase the magazine if it was something they would like. I realize I should of asked a second question about what freebie they would like but I did not. I also didn't ask for their age which I also probably should of done. Most people would want information on concert information or on bands, such as interviews or behind the scenes. Many people seem to listen to the same popular bands - the most popular of them being ''. Maybe I could include this in some way. The cover attracts a lot of people but the contents inside just about wins by 5% so I need to make sure what can be found inside clear. For my magazine I will take all of this into consideration and apply what I can to it in order to make it a popular magazine people would read.   

Primary Research - Audience Part 1

I created a survey using survey monkey so that I could gain some research to help me in the process of making my music magazine. This is the link to it https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TWKCPHY ~ I have used facebook and twitter in the hope that people will take part in it so I can get some data back.

Representation

Representation is how people, events and ideas are presented to the audience by the media. I'm going to look at how Panic! At the Disco in the Kerrang! Magazine is represented.
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The image on the front cover is of the main singer holding two very large dogs which are known for their aggressive nature. This could make him seem like he's in control or the 'top dog' as he's firmly got the leads of the actual dogs, keeping control over them.Panic! At The Disco is generally known as an Emo band but the front cover and the outfit he's wearing doesn't suggest this to me. He seems to be wearing a pink blazer which is a very soft feminine colour. The dogs also tie in with the heading 'bite back' - which was probably the photographer's or the person-in-charge's decision. His outfit and overall style is quite different if you compare it with his band from the earlier days. This could of been the decision of either the record label or the artist themselves to change their image. They still dress smartly but they used to have longer black hair in the typical side bangs that emo's have - along with dressing in black and white whereas now there is some pink mixed into the equation. I don't know if this is just for this photo shoot or if that's the general image they were aiming for. 

  

Primary Research - Magazine Analysis

Magazine Analysis

Magazine Cover

This is the magazine cover of Kerrang! The magazine is not printed in gloss, as the cover price is reasonably low for a music magazine. The colours are very vibrant and stand out, especially the yellow text against the red of the background. Yellow seems to be a recurring colour as many of the headlines and banners are in this shade. The typeface is is Sans Serif, making it look more block like. The cover is quite crowded apart from around the image which is expected. The person's head overlaps the masthead, which often is unconventional in the world of magazine layout. This must mean the magazine is recognizable enough for you not to see the whole masthead. However, the masthead does take up 1/3rd of the page which is normally the case. There is also a puff at the top to draw your attention and there is also the promise of 6 posters. The barcode is in the bottom right, otherwise known as the golden corner. Here it states the issue and price along with the date. 

Contents Page

The contents page is very simple in the colour scheme, must like DIY, they have mostly used black and white for their text. However, yelllow has been used which ties in with the text on the cover page. The folio numbers are in red and do not go in order but are separated into several sections to make it easier to find what you want to read. There is also a couple of images to help aid you to your desired page. The more popular stories usually have the images with the folio number covering it in some way. Here they've placed it in the corner of the images. There is also an editors note to the left along with a flannel panel underneath it. Sans Serif has only been used mostly, but the headings are done in Serif, making them slightly easier to read against the black. 

Double Page Spread

This was the only double page spread I could find that didn't go onto more pages. A drop cap has been used twice on the page and is in the same colour as Dove. This helps to connect it to the heading and to enhance the page. The typeface is written using sans serif, where you would think it would be in Serif which is easier to read if there is a lot of text. Possibly Kerrang! prefers the block text effect. The text is not justified which doesn't look too bad, however it still annoys me. There is a pull-quote in the middle of the page in block capitals, therefore drawing your attention to it to see if the article would be interesting to read or not. The heading itself is a pun on 'I believe in a thing called Love' but love has been changed to dove. The image of a dove flying over the O and V adds visual effect. The image is rather interesting. Is also has a dove but it's flying in front of the man, almost as if he's just let it go. The red theme carries on and it goes over his clothes making him appear slightly transparent. There is another flannel panel to the right hand side, which doesn't really add to the article much at all. 

Magazine Cover

This is the front cover to Q, a well known music magazine. It has a rather simple layout and much less crowded than Kerrang! The image is simple and takes up most of the room so therefore it catches your attention. Only one person is looking directly at the camera though, maybe he's the main singer, but he's the one that catches your eyes and draws you in. The main colour scheme is black, therefore the text must be reversed out in order to make it readable, along with it being written in Sans Serif. The masthead takes up the top left-hand corner of the cover. It does not go across the entire page like so many other magazines, so it's breaking away from the normal layout. The barcode is in the typical position, the golden corner. It shows the issue number, date and cover price. There is a banner going across the top, above the masthead. This is then pointing to an image to help draw you in.

Contents Page

The contents page carries on the theme of red, as the top of the page is red - making the title seem like a banner. It also has the month above that so you are fully aware you have the right months issue. The cover story is clearly visible with an image and a puff that says 'cover story' to make it extra clear to you. However, instead of having the folio number on the images, they have them next to the image with a little bit of what the article is about underneath. All of the other headings also have something about the article underneath, this can make it easier to decide what to read. The numbers aren't going in order once again. There is a flannel panel to the side where it shows reviews that they have done and what bands, explaining about each one. The headings and folio numbers are done using a sans serif typeface, whereas the descriptions are done using serif. The headings are also done using red which ties in with the colours of the cover page yet again. 

Double Page Spread

This is the double page spread in Q which is the cover story. The colour red is used once again, always making a reference to the colour of their masthead. The drop caps are very creatively designed, making them seem like smoke and the letters silhouetted. This is different from the other magazines. The first third of the page is written in a much larger font than the rest of it, and the typeface used is in sans serif. This will make it easier to read. The text is not justified and is split into 2 even columns. This helps to divide the page up and make it easier on the eyes. The image is all 4 band members in close up photos. The black of their outfits contrast nicely with the white of the background. There is  pull-quote in the middle and the person who said it is also in red. It also tells you who they are clockwise in white.

Evaluation of Contents Page

Evaluation of Magazine Cover

Contents Page

Using Adobe InDesign

On InDesign we opened up a new document. My gutter size was 3mm and my Margin size was 5mm. I decided to have 2 columns because I would want it to be more visual than text dominated.  

Then I added a box for an image to go into. 

Images have to be edited on Photoshop as InDesign is mainly using for text and layout. So I edited the font on Photoshop and then put it into InDesign using Place which is in the File tab.

I then added some more images that I had taken

I then had a go at putting text in via word. InDesign aligns the text to the box.

I then added social networking logos and the college logo to one side, and the urls on the other in a black box. 

I decided to change the photo of the copics to a different one as the marker being upside down on the previous image was annoying me. 

I then added my contents. I decided to have the headings in black instead of the exact same font as the masthead but it's still the same. I also did the contents sub headings in red to match the apron on the front cover. 

Final Cover

Using Photoshop on My Magazine Cover

These are some screen shots of how I made my college magazine cover using Photoshop. 

Using the Magnetic Lasso tool I cut out the background of my image

I then made the background patterned using the fill tool but set it to pattern and chose this one. It reminds me of paper which is why I chose it. 

I then went around the image using the line tool. But I couldn't find out how to select it once it was on, and it didn't seem to have a layer of it's own. So I decided to get rid of it in the end. 

I then made a bar code on an online generator. I also added the price using the text tool. 

I then went on dafont.com and picked a font to use for my masthead. I searched for 'Art' and this one that came up. I decided not to rub it out completely to make it look like a torn piece of paper. I also removed the part so my models head was in front of the masthead but it isn't obscuring it all that much. 

Using the same method as the masthead to get my text, I deleted the background of the text using the magic wand and then put a square behind the text. I then rubbed it out using the eraser to make it look like a torn piece of coloured paper. I also tried to make the colour match the apron which is hard as the apron is many different shades of red, even whilst using the Eyedropper tool. 

I then added a Puff in the shape of a paint splat and then put a Buzz word inside

I changed the shape and colour of my puff. I made it the same colour as it was behind the slogan so that it also matched the apron. I also changed the shape again to look like torn paper.

I then added some headlines. In my research people said that they would want info on Universities so I decided to have that as the first cover line. They also wanted tips so I also included a story about how to become an artist. 

I then decided to make the background lighter and the cover lines in a darker font in order to make them more visible. 

I then decided to move everything down a little and make the masthead larger. It got a bit skewed but it's meant to be an arty magazine so I decided that it was okay. 

I decided to rotate the bar code so that I was able to put the text on because I still can't figure out how to rotate text. I got rid of the price because this is a free magazine but I added the date and Issue number. 

I also then put a grey line below the white strip of the masthead to make it slightly more like torn paper.

I then used the curve levels to make it much brighter, which I think looks better but the edges of where I cut her out are much more visible. I need to soften them somehow. 

I then used the surface blur trying to make the edges softer but it ended up looking like the image had been painted so I decided to keep it as I think it looks really cool. 

Using Photoshop

We were learning to use new skills using the software program Photoshop. I am already familiar with Photoshop but I did manage to learn a new skill during it.

I learned how to use the Magnetic Lasso Tool which is a quick way of cutting out an image. I don't like using it because it's tricky to use and you can't be as accurate as you may want when using the Polygon Lasso Tool. 

I used it to select around the person and then change the background

Audience Profile

Student Magazine Questionnaire Results

Results by DrifloonCazzie

These are the results from my Questionnaire. It would appear that most people seems to have creative interests so I think it would be best to aim them along that interest. Also people seemed to want the magazine to have plenty of Advice inside and more would be included to buy the magazine if it had a freebie of some sort. 

Student Magazine Questionnaire

Student Magazine Questionnare by DrifloonCazzie

This is my questionnaire to research what students are in to so that I know what to base my College Magazine on. 

Definition of a Magazine

A magazine is a collection of information and/or photos that specialise around a certain interest or hobby. Most magazines are printed but some are digitally available and are often printed on a monthly or weekly basis. Magazines have many genre's such as Music, Sport, Fashion as well as Specialized Magazines such as Neo, a magazine that centres around Anime and Manga so is made for only one kind of audience. 

Magazines are a form of entertainment, a way to pass the time. A5 magazines are mainly used for travelling but the more glossy A4-A3 (Berliner) magazines are much more looked after as they often cost from £3-£5. 

It is however not a newspaper, as the newspaper deals with a new story daily and then it's gone. A magazine deals with stories or events that will be coming up as they are generally released every month, so need to plan a month in advance before they release the final product. 

End Marmite Neglect - Marmite Advert 2013

The message of this advert was created by the producers of Marmite via a filming agency. 

At first you think that it's a serious advert as the first people you see are the 'animal' police - people who hold a high amount of Authority. Once the advert gets going you realise that it's not serious at all, seeing as the dogs face was blurred out to show that this was not a serious advert - along with carrying the Marmite out in an animal carrier. It draws you in with it's sense of humour by treating it as a neglected animal as you can see nearer to the end of the advert people looking through cages as if wanting to adopt it. 

Some people may not understand the humour behind this advert and therefore might not understand what the product is about. It seems to be a rather straight forward advert but it takes a while before you get to the final image of loving it or hating it. 

The advert shows several different types of people throughout its duration. The first family are in a rather busy house with not all that much room. They're probably not in a very good community as their neighbour ends up looking out the window like a stereotypical type overly-curious old lady. At the end a rather happy looking family 'adopts' a jar of Marmite, who seem to live in a big house suggesting they're a middle-class family. Marmite seems to base it's product on the fact that there's a chance you won't like it - hence why the little boy didn't like it. Making it slightly risky when purchasing on the off chance you won't enjoy it.

The message is being sent in order for you to obviously buy the product. Marmite's slogan seems to have stuck pretty well and it's become said in many families when talking about the product.