Shot Lists and Prop List

Here are pages of my Shot List. I have sketched out what photographs I plan to take in order to have a selection to choose from. I have included possible photographs for my front cover, contents page and double-page spread. I have also included what would be appropriate for the models to wear and how to pose.

Flat Plan - Feedback

These are recordings of 3 different people - who fit my target audience - giving me feedback on what they think of the flat plan for my front cover, contents page and double-page spread.

Visual Moodboard

I created a Visual Moodboard with the help of iMovie. I included words that I would want associated with my music magazine and what I aspired for it be as a whole. These words were: "URBAN, HUMOUROUS, INFLUENTIAL, EMPOWERING, CULTURAL, FRESH, TRENDY, PERSUASIVE, HARDCORE, EVERYTHING AND MORE." I wanted to convey these words either through articles, images or even an overall message to the readers.

Flat Plan Draft - Deconstructed

Here is my Flat Plan for my magazine, 'SWAY'. I chose this name because it means more than one thing. It can mean "strong influence" or rhythmical movement. This is suitable for the type of magazine I am creating because I hope my magazine will enforce positive influence upon the readers. Also, to move rhythmically can be linked to music, which is what kind of magazine I am creating.

The main colour that will be featured in my magazine will be white because I feel like it gives the magazine a sense of sophistication. A few other colours such as red will be present because it's a bold colour that can easily attract attention. The reason why I'm keeping my colour palette quite simple is because I have taken on the feedback from my focus group and how they favoured the magazines that weren't bursting with colours more, and were simple in a way that made them want to know more about it. I mainly used the music magazine 'Billboard' and 'VIBE' as inspiration since my focus group liked their conventions more than other magazines.



Front Cover
My front cover will feature mainly white, with a few red accents taken from my models' outfit/make up. I used 'Billboard' magazine as inspiration because I liked the convention of their magazines which tend to entail simple backgrounds with the artists being the main feature and having little to no supporting articles.

Contents Page

My contents page was influenced by ‘VIBE’ and ‘Billboard’ magazine. I have used ‘Billboard’ as inspiration for how the masthead of ‘CONTENTS’ is most prominent as well as the 3 images that will be below the ‘Contents’. I have used the ‘VIBE’ magazine as inspiration for an image of my own featuring artists on the side while I depict what will be featuring in my magazine, on the other side. 

After getting some feedback from my peers as well as experimenting with the layout for my contents page, I finally settled on using the page with Chris Brown as my main inspiration for my own contents page.

Double-Page Spread

I have used ‘VIBE’ magazine as inspiration for my double-page spread. I have used the idea of my main artist being placed in the middle of the 2 pages, while the text – their interview – will surround their image. 

From the audience feedback I got from people within my target audience, I decided to change the Flat Plan for my Double-Page Spread. Instead, I will be taking inspiration for the layout of my own magazine from 'NME'.

What I liked about it was that you had one entire page dedicated to the artist, with a short puff which relates to the picture. Then I liked how the pull-quote from the artist was right in the middle of the next page, it draws the readers' attention to it. I also like how the rest of the text/interview has been placed around the quote, since the interview is all about him.

Artist Profile

I used Glogster to present an Artist Profile. While she may not be my featuring artist for my front page and double-page spread, she is an example of the kind of artists that would feature in my magazine. Click the audio graphic!

Reader Profile

This is a Prezi which presents my Reader Profile & some background information about her.

Artist Research - Branding

This is my research regarding rap music artists (Nicki Minaj and Kanye West) and their branding.

Rap Artist Research - Branding from gaya_sri

Qualititive Audience Research: Rap Music Magazines

 This is a video of the focus group I put together to gain some insight to what views my target audience had towards Rap Magazines out in the world.



I asked them to look at these magazines:

I chose one magazine with a solo male artist and a sole female artist to show the contrast between how either of them are portrayed, regarding their gender and I chose one of a group of female artists once again to show that female artists are portrayed in a sexual light, rather than a professional one light the middle magazine.

So to some up, the focus group consists of 3 students that are in the criteria for my target audience (16-18 year old) and we discuss their dislikes and likes towards the magazine covers I showed them. From this task, I found out that a simple and clean look of a magazine cover like the one with Nicki Minaj and T.I. is more appreciated than the one with the group of female artists, because it looks "busy". 

When I create my own magazine, I will take on board these ideas so that the product I create will be positively perceived by my target audience.

These are shots of the models who participated in my video, giving their consent.

Market Research - Magazines in Shops

As a method of conducting Market Research, I obtained a photograph of a variety of magazines from an off license so I could analyse the trending articles and similarities between the magazines.

What I noticed from this collection of magazines was that they were mainly either targeted at women or avid Soap Opera fans. While the main front cover models are supposed to be the factor that draws the readers in and urges them to buy a copy, you can clearly see that the supporting articles and puff words also contribute to engaging the readers. For example, the words "MURDER!" definitely captures your attention and you want to read more on the matter.

What I also noticed was that the main colours used to highlight something of importance such as offers, were in bright yellow or red. These are clearly colours of urgency to draw the reader to the text first. The price of the magazines are emphasised with graphics in the bright colours mentioned above to persuade the customer to buy.

I noticed that there weren't many, if any, music magazines present which presented the idea that similar to what I discovered from my audience research, not many people read music magaiznes as often as they may have done before.

For my own music magazine, I will mimic the conventions I have noted from these magazines, such as colour schemes and size of fonts.

Genre Research

Quantitative Audience Research - Survey

I created a survey using SurveyMonkey to obtain research required for my own Music Magazine. I aimed the survey at my target audience which was 16-18 year olds. I mainly used Quantitative Questions so I could easily analyse the results. I shared my survey on Facebook and was met with responses quickly.

Here is a brief explanation as to what questions I chose and why:

1) What's your favourite genre of music?

Although I have already decided on the type of genre of music I will be basing my magazine on, I still wanted to see which genre was most popular at the moment, in case it changed my mind.

2) What is it about magazines that attracts you to them?

I wanted to make it a little easier for me to know what to include in my magazine so it would be desirable for readers.

3) How often to you read magazines?

I asked this because I wanted to know whether my magazine would actually be considered by readers, if they were popular or not.

4) Do you prefer seeing females or males on the front cover of magazines?

I asked this because it was relevant to the kind of rap magazine I wanted to make and who would be the main feature. 

5) Do you think the idea of a music magazine is useful?

I wanted to see whether or not people would actually use the magazine I created for a reason.

Quantitative Audience Research - Survey Analysis

I used SurveyMonkey to help me analyse the results I had gotten from the survey. Altogether, I received 6 responses before I began analysing, even though there were still more responses later on. From this survey, I deduced that Rap/Hip Hop Music was the most popular genre of music listened to by my target audience. This was positive for me because I had already decided to create a Rap magazine. I also discovered that my target audience are not only interested in who's featuring on the front cover of the magazine, but also the other featuring articles. I did find out that most of my target audience "rarely" read magazines, so this enabled me to come to the decision that my magazine would be have monthly issues, in order to not waste materials. The last question I asked was moot, since I have to make a magazine, but it proved to be positive feedback since all the responses agreed that they thought a music magazine was a useful product.

The highest percentage was for 'Rap/ Hip Hop' which worked out perfectly since I had already decided to make a Rap Music Magazine.

The data showed that my target audience were equally interested in who was featured on the front, as well as the accompanying articles. This told me that I would be featuring both on my own magazine.

This showed me that many of my target audience didn't really read magazines. While this didn't deter my decision to make one, it made me want to create one that would make people want to read them.

This answer changed my mind from initially deciding to feature a female artist only in order to promote the successfulness of them, to featuring both of the genders but both of them will be presented in a powerful light. Rather than conforming to stereotypes of rap magazines.

This response confirmed my decision to make a music magazine, as my target audience had ensured that they found them useful, perhaps even interesting.