Tuesday 26 January 2016

Artist inspiration.

The artist i have created for my magazine has been heavily inspired my the pretty reckless' Taylor Momsen. Her style is very unique, including tight jeans, tank tops and accessories. The makeup and clothes she wears are very dark which contrasts with her blond hair. The style of music the pretty reckless creates is quite dark and hard, Taylor's vocals are very sharp/hard hitting.

Taylor Momsen:

article

Downloader's Freddie Jones sat down with restless in paradise's front woman Beckiee Galvin to talk about there head lining act at Download 2015.


HI BECKIEE! FIRST THINGS FIRST, HOW HAVE YOU BEEN AFTER HEADLINING DOWNLOAD?
We've been great! We have done a few concerts supporting great bands such as 'all time low', such great guys! As well as working on our new album.

YES, 'PERFECT SILENCE' LETS TALK ABOUT THAT FOR A BIT..
All i'm saying now is that its been really fun to do and there are a few new sounds. (laughs)

NEW SOUNDS?
Yes, you can expect a few vocals from Lewis [lead guitarist of restless in paradise] and maybe some other recognizable voices. oh! and maybe a few ukuleles, who knows?

"ITS LIKE BEING THE NEW KID AT SCHOOL"


DOES IT EVER GET SCARY WORKING WITH ALL THESE BIG NAME BANDS?
Not scary, more like intimidating (laughs). Being the 'new' band around is like when you move to a new school as a kid and trying to make friends, you always try to make a good first impression! But no, in all seriousness, its great. We get to work with some lovely people who make you feel so welcome and help us through it. Jack [bassist from down under] is like a brother to me! He is always giving us pointers and showing us his signature stage moves (chuckles).

GOING BACK TO YOUR BAND... EXPLAIN TO ANY NEWBIES WHAT KIND OF BAND YOU ARE. WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES?
You could describe are music as hard rock/post-grunge. The music can be very hard hitting, you know, strong vocals. (laughs). We'd like to say that we have a similar sound to 'The pretty reckless' or an 'Avenged Sevenfold' style band but with a female vocalist.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE A 'RECKLESS IN PARADISE' CONCERT?
In one word? Mad. Dan [lead guitarist from Reckless in paradise'] is literally the craziest guy you'll ever meet! If you have ever seen us live you will understand that. (chuckles). There is a lot of light flashes, drum solos, guitar solos AND one thing i love to do is get the crowd involved the whole way through. You know, questions, chants, getting them to do certain actions haha.

SADLY, I HAVE YET TO SEE YOU LIVE, BUT JAMIE [PHOTOGRAPHER FOR 'DOWNLOADER' HAS AND SAID IT WAS AMAZING.
Awh, thank you, we do try haha.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY THE BEST AND WORST THING IS ABOUT PLAYING CONCERTS?
The best? Now i know this is going to sound cliche but probably just the fans. Like the reaction they give and how much they join in is just great. I can't really say that there is any bad things. The whole experience is just great.

 WHEN DID YOU FIRST REALIZE YOU WANTED TO DO MUSIC?
Iv always enjoyed singing since i was little but never did anything about it. When i was 13 i did a solo in my school musical and i absolutely loved. I guess since then i never really wanted to get off the stage.

HAHA, AS WERE COMING TO THE END OF THE INTERVIEW, IM GOING TO ASK YOU SOME NON BAND RELATED QUESTIONS.
FIRST QUESTION: WHAT IS THE LAST PICTURE TAKEN ON YOUR PHONE?
*shows photo of a face swap between her and Jimmy Carr* Basically, there is this app where you can put your face onto someone else. So me and Jack thought it would be funny to get up pictures of famous people and swap with them. (Laughs).

I THINK THAT WE SHOULD GET ONE AT THE END OF THIS INTERVIEW HAHA. OKAY, SECOND AND FINAL QUESTION: IF YOU HAD TO SPEND A MONTH STRANDED ON AN ISLAND WITH ONE PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE?
Oh my God haha, erm, maybe Micheal McIntyre (laughs). I think he'd just make the most of out the situation were in and would lighten up the mood. Either him or another comedian such as Jack Whitehall, or maybe Russel Brand. Who knows?





Friday 22 January 2016

Feedback from the class.



These are some of the comments that my peers have put on my pitch. The majority say that they like my idea and i have made my intentions clear. However, my pitch should contain extra information such as how often it will be released at the price of it. After comparing my idea to other peoples in the class, i have decided to make my magazine £3 and to be have a new issue every week.


Friday 15 January 2016

Playlist.

Analysis of existing magazine titles.


NME stands for 'new musical express'. This is a good name for this magazine because it is a music magazine (hence the mane). The masthead being an abbreviation shows that the magazine is very well known and doesn't need the full name for people to know which magazine it is. It also makes it more appealing to younger audiences and allows space for more text and images.



The masthead for this magazine is simple and bold which makes it stand out. The magazine being called 'rock sound' instantly shows the audience that the magazine is about rock music. Just underneath of the masthead there is a little slogan that says 'new music first'. This is a good slogan because it does not only show that it is a rock music magazine, but is also about new music in the industry. I like the idea of having a slogan because it gives a more detailed idea about the magazine they are purchasing.

Analysis of institution that would publish my magazine.

 The IPC (international production company) is the UK's top publishing company. It has published things such as NME magazine and the sun newspaper. The IPC would be good for my magazine because it has worked on magazines in the same genera as mine and has also sold over 350 million copies of the magazines they publish. As the IPC is so successful, it will impact greatly on how well my magazine could do if released to the public.


relevant photographers, graphic designers and magazine creators.

Paul Harries:
Paul Harries is the main photographer for kerrang! magazine which is in the same music genera as my magazine. Most of his work is done with a black background, which makes the model stand out with the correct lighting. Using the work of a well known artist will attract readers.

Tom Barnes:

Tom Barnes is a less known photographer, he has done work for magazines such as Rocksound. Most/all of his work is scenery, which is good for posters but not for what i want for my magazine because i feel that the background will distract the reader from the importance of the story.

For my magazine i will be using similar images to Paul Harries but probably with either a white or colourful background. I want both single shot images like Paul Harris' photos as well as staged group photos like Tom Barnes but without the scenery.

Ken Kelly:


Ken Kelly is a fantasy artist. His work mainly consists of swords, sorcery and heroic images. He is not a graphic designer but he has designed album covers for bands such as Kiss and rainbow. I like his art work because it is very powerful.

preliminary magazine contents page.


preliminary magazine cover.



language register.

Magazines use different types of language depending on their target audience. For example, a magazine aimed at teenagers may use slang and abbreviations, whereas a magazine for older people will use proper dialect. This makes it appealing to the correct target audience because an older person wont want to read a magazine they do not understand. An example of a magazine that is aimed at younger people is kerrang! This magazine tends to joke with the audience and used terminology that is more recent which makes it easier for the reader to understand. However, even though 'Q' magazine is for a relatively young audience, it is set out in a more mature manner so it appeals to a larger audience.

Analysis of fonts.

I like all of these fonts. My favorite 2 are: blue ridge heavy and mistral. I think that the first 4 are too plain for my magazine and the bottom 2 are too 'messy'.The one i think i will use is mistral because i like that is is upright, so it is easy to read, it is simple but different.

magazine analysis 3-Rocksound

This cover is completely filled with images and text; it probably has about 12 layers. The main image overlaps the masthead to draw attention to it. The main image being over the masthead draws the audience to it and shows them it is something that interests them; The image also does this by being placed central in the magazine. The bar code is placed on the lower right of the page. It has the issue number and date of release. There is a lot of colour on this cover which makes it stand out and attractive to the reader. As you can see in the paragraphs that follow, there is a similar colour pallet through out.




This double page spread has a very dark colour pallet which relates greatly to the band the story is about and the over all feel of the magazine. The headline is larger than the other text to highlight what the story that follows is about. There is a quote between the two text of a different colour and slightly larger font and has a different background around it to highlight it. Using a quote makes the text more believable attracting the audience. Using such a large image breaks the text down and makes it more appealing to the viewer. The image here is of a band called 'murderdolls' and the image being so large stands out to the viewer and means that they dont have to read the text to know what its about.

The main image goes over the middle of the 2 pages meaning that it is important. There are many other images across the page. They use these images instead of text just to give the reader a rough idea of what is on that page; It also limits the amount of text which is more appealing to this target audience because they come to read about music and there interests. The word 'contents' on this page is a lot smaller than other more important titles. They focus to making the text that is more important stand out, such as '26 new bands you need to here' as this is what the reader bought the magazine for. There is a lot of colour on this page which is related to the entire colour pallet of the magazine. They focus more on the simple colours such as white and red near the text so it is still easy to follow.

Thursday 14 January 2016

Analysis of magazine 2- NME.



This cover has approximately 8 layers all overlapping each other. The main image partly covers the masthead because the magazine is well known so they can get away with it. The main image is of muse front man Matt Bellamy, showing that the main artical is about him/ his band. He is placed to the right of the page allowing more space for text, as this cover has a lot. The background is blue, making it colorful and attractive to the viewer.



Just like Kerrang magazine, NME has a whole page of an image related to the story. It also has large text at the top taking up half of the page. These two things limit the amount of text in the story, which is better for those who dont like large amount of text to read. The colour pallet on this page is very bland. The white background allows for the black text to stand out, making it easier for the reader to read.


The colour pallet is black and white with a bit of colour. The black and white makes it easier for the reader to follow. However, the colour makes it more suited to the entire magazine because it has a lot going on. There is a lot of text all over the page and is put in a format that isn't easy for the reader to follow. This page also contains the masthead, but nowhere on this page it it says the words 'contents'. There arnt many images on this page which may not be appealing to certain audiences, mainly the younger people. For this reason, i do no like this contents page because i think that more images should be applied.

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Analysis of magazine 1 -KERRANG

KERRANG!

This cover has a lot of layers (about 10). A lot of things overlap to add space to tell the reader what the magazine contains. The main picture is of my chemical romances Gerard Way, this tells the reader that there is a story about him/them related to the headline so that it attracts the viewer. It is laid out on an 'F' format, directing the reader across the page. The masthead is large capital letters that make it bold and stand out. The masthead being on top of the main image brings attention to the readers eye.








The contents page has half of the page all about the main story in the issue and has highlights of other main stories. peoples eyes get drawn to images they like which interests them. This is why there are a few large images on this page. They use the same font to keep to the theme. The word 'contents' is larger than the other writing to highlight that it is the contents page. They also the same size font when they write the title of the magazine on another page.








This magazine always has a page just of a large image on one size. Half of the other side is taken up by a large gripping title with a short story underneath. 2 of the paragraphs start with a kicker/drop, this is done by the editor to show that there is something important in these paragraphs. They use these because it draws the readers eye towards it to let them know that the paragraph is important. This page has little colour in it, making it simple and easier for the reader to read.

Audience profile.

My target audience is mainly teenagers but can be for older adults too because the music in the magazine is a range from new music now to music that was popular in the generation before. These people fall under the 'alt' group on UK tribes. UK tribes puts these people in subcategories such as:

  • young alts; People who just want to be away from the 'mainstream'.
  • Skaters; People who are passionate about skateboarding.  
  • Hardcore; Tend to fall under the 'emo' category below. They listen to heavy 'screaming' music.
  • Hardcore gamers; competitive in the gaming world.
  • superfans; People who express their love for something/someone through buying merchandise, writing fan-fictions and posting on social media. 
  • Metallers; headbanging rockers who listen to meal music.
  • punks; These people like to stand out with there over the top accessories. unks are coming back harder than ever!
  • cosplayers; short for costume play. These people enjoy dressing up as their favorite characters.  

clothing and attire:

  • These people tend to wear a lot of merchandise from bands in there genera such as, bullet for my valentine and my chemical romance. The also wear skater brands like, Ledge and Vans.
  • There is a range of style that this group of people wear. These styles are;          
  1. Skaters- 'baseball tees', skinny jeans, vans and beanies
  2. Goths- Dark tops or dresses, large boots, long coats and googles.
  3. Emos- these are similar to goths but wear more accessories such as chains and belts.
Interests and past time:
  • Listening to music, either there their own music or on channels like kerrang, scuzz or planet rock.
  • watching people on youtube. popular youtubers in this genera are people like Veeoneeye and drewissharing.
  • play video games.
Music preferences:

My target audience is for people who like alternative music. This has a range of other styles of music within it, such as; heavy metal, punk rock, classic rock and pop punk. The magazine i have created will include people of all these styles giving it a wider audience.



Monday 11 January 2016

Magazine title and music genera

DOWNLOADER

I have decided to call my magazine the 'downloader' because i want the magazine to be about bands that have played at the latest 'download festival'. It will include information like new releases, interviews with the bands and information on upcoming concerts. My original idea was to do a magazine just on all bands relevant in that genre, i had come up with names such as 'sordid rock' and 'rock against thrasher'. I do like these names and i think they would be good for that magazine idea. However, i decided to go with 'downloader' and to stick with the theme of the festival because it makes it different to the rest of the typical music magazines. I am aiming to make my magazine colourful and eye catching with a lot of images on the cover and throughout.
To the side of my blog is a playlist containing songs from the bands in my mode board. After doing my research i have decided to add a small slogan just underneath my mast head. An idea i had was 'your favourite bands from your favourite festival'. This can show the buyer what exactly my magazine is about and that it is about the bands that have played at the past and coming up download festival.

Colour pallet



 This black and white pallet colour pallet would make my double page spread out and simple, this way the reader can keep there attention on he story and not get distracted. However, i dislike how bland they are and it does no fit the theme of my magazine at all.




However, i have decided to use a colour pallet more like this one. This is because it is still plain and simple but it has a little bit of colour which fits the theme more because i want my magazine to contain a lot of colour on the front.



These 2 colour pallets are ideas for the cover page and contents page. They are bold colours that will attract they eye of the viewer to the page. As my magazine will be about alternative rock bands, i think that the colours should be bold but not too bright such as the blue, red and black one.

Moodboard


This mood board is a collection of images of people from the 'alternative' scene. It features new bands such as 'the pretty reckless' and 'neck deep' as well as older bands like 'Metallica' and 'linkin park'. All of these artists appear in many magazines such as KERRANG!, NME and Rocksound. Having new and old bands attracts a wider audience because you get people of older age come to read stories about people such as Metallica, iron maiden and the rolling stones. as well as youth who like to here more modern rock such as Skindred, Mallory Knox and all time low.

I have chosen images of a range of colour from black and white to full colour. This is because i want my magazine to have a range in colour that reflects on the idea of the story about that particular band. I would like my front cover to be very colourful with some little colour on the inside.