Time Plan

Week begining
Monday Jan 19th : Research music magazines and see what styles and conventions they use. Decide on a genre and do more detailed research into magazines of this genre.

Mon Jan 26th: Complete reasearch and planning. Decide on specific details e.g masthead, fonts, pictures (positioning of pictures, shot type,connotations etc), layout, colour schemes. Create a rough plan of front cover, contents and double page spread. Post everything so far onto blog.

Mon Feb 2nd: Interview band that double page spread article will be concentrating on. Begin writing double page spread article in draft, get teacher/parents/friends to check it and make necessary changes.

Mon Feb 9th: Take photos - asking necessary models when they are free, enquire into camera use - try and get pictures done before 1/2 term due to acess to college cameras.

(make sure everything i do is written up onto blog as i go along)

Mon Feb 16th: HALF TERM take more photos if necessary and possible. Produce a final double page spread article.

Mon Feb 23rd: Load photos into photoshop and edit until they look professional and appropriate. Start to insert edited pictures onto Quark express and insert boxes ready for masthead, coverlines etc.

Mon March 2nd: Complete front cover getting correct fonts and including all conventions of a front cover - date, price barcode,coverlines etc. Start on contents layout and text.

Mon March 9th: Complete contents page including previously edited photos. Arrange according to original plan and see how it looks, change around if necessary. Also aim to complete double page spread including edited photos, copy up final article.

Mon March 16th: Make sure all production is completed and blog is kept up to date of what i've been doing as i go along. Complete a full evaluation of work and load everything onto blog.

MAIN COURSEWORK - Magazine production: Reasearch and planning

I have decided that my magazine will be based on an older genre of music - from the 60’s/70’s/80’s. I have done some research into magazines of a similar genre to mine which have influenced my choices of what to include.
I decided on including sepia and black and white colour schemes to emphasise the vintage style. Also the text I use will be the same as ‘The Kinks’ picture below connoting the time of the music written about but also to make it more interesting and to attract a younger audience.

Mojo magazine:

I like the style and the use of genre conventions in this magazine as it concentrates on older music. The black and white/sepia colour schemes that are used throughout emphasises the older target audience.
This audience is older than the one I would be focusing on, they would be people that remember the bands being massive at the time they first came about so want to bring the music from their childhood back, would be high in class status and either retired or have alot of time. However I’m concentrating on a younger audience who are interested in older music and want to know more about how they came about and what’s happening to them now.

This magazine has articles about older bands from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s which I would use in my magazine. Also pieces about who is coming back into the music scene in 2008 –This will be the type of story I will use for my double page spread.

Pictures of vinyls are commonly used throughout this magazine which connotes the old-style music industry and how music was better like this than the modern style. I will use similar pictures on the front cover and on the contents to make it look attractive and authentic and give the ideology that it’s a bit different and based on music from this time.

An image like this would make my magazine a bit more modern and attract a younger audience but by still keeing tht main idea of the older music style, maybe putting this in a black and white colour scheme would indicate the older style more, as at the moment it connotes more of the modern 'mc' scene which is not what i'm focusing on.

The photo on the front cover has the artists covering the title, this is an effective strategy in bringing out the main image. I will use this style in mine. Also the long shot of the artists shows them up well and their pose is interesting and conveys their personalities, this is an effective use of camera techniques.

The continuous use of sans serif font is good as it makes it look slick and finished. The simple text of the masthead is effective; however it’s not that interesting. The ‘sticker’ in the corner with something written on looks genuine and, again, emphasises the authenticity –I will use this idea if I can with the price on making it a bit different and connoting the old feel.
The cover lines are all at angles which is a bit different to the rest of the cover as it makes it a bit more interesting and varied connoting fun and a ‘jumbled up’ look.

A lot of the pictures inside have that effect of an old ‘grainy’ camera which is really effective and connotes the 60s/70s/80s clearly and gives it an authentic image. I will be using a lot of this style in most of my pictures to give it that feel and make it more interesting and appeal to a younger audience who are interested in this time and the older style.

For the double page spread ‘Mojo’ often uses the question answer format which is effective and is a good way of portraying an interview and getting information across. An idea that I got for the double page spread or part of the contents page for my magazine was to have an old-style jukebox with song titles from the eras I’m concentrating on listed on it. The type of story i would have on my double page spread would be older artists whose music is becoming more and more popular.

My aim is to attract a younger audience into appreciating older music. So I would use interesting fonts and set it out in a more varied way not just in straight lines. Also I would introduce some more colours than this magazine. This magazine concentrates more on the actual records that’s have been made and selling them and giving information about them. My magazine would not be based on this format as I want to include stories and articles making it more interesting.

The front cover uses a sepia colour scheme which I like and will use at some point in my magazine. However I do not like the text used as it’s all very straight and slick connoting formality and appealing to an older audience. The way the band is positioned also suggests this – I would have mine standing or in a different, interesting pose.

This is the type of font i will use for my masthead and for titles and main articles in the magazine. It connotes style and gives it a proffesional look. It also emphasises the authentic theme.

I have designed some rough drafts of what my magazine will look like. It will follow most conventions of a magazine.