Double Page Spread Mock-up

This is my double page spread mock-up and it is what I hope my final piece will look like. I have tried to stick to the codes and conventions of double page spreads by adding features like 'pull quotes' , a 'header' and a 'stand first'. I will also use my knowledge of what I have learned from analysing other contents pages and continue trying to make a symbiotic link between this and my other two pieces. I have not include my body copy because I am not sure if I will keep the layout the same and if to put more or less images.

Contents Page Mock-up

Before creating my final contents page, I drew a mock-up to be able to see how I can place the content like pictures and text and experiment what colours I would use in my final design. I also was able to apply what I learned from analysing other magazine contents pages.

Cover Mock-up

Before making my final magazine cover, I drew a mock-up version to get a better idea how I can structure the different features, what other information and text I could put on the cover and experiment with different colours and fonts.

Location Research

Looking through other music magazines, I was hoping to get a better understanding of the locations where most images were taken for artists that appear in the magazines. I did this to help me get ideas on possible locations I could use for my rock band's photo shoot. 


At first I was thinking of doing an English country side shot. I would be a celebration of Britishness and an image in hard light would make the subject e.i. the band, look more natural and almost flawless. This could give an impression that these guys are naturals at what they do. But I chose not to use this location because the band members' looks and clothes would not have not in with this serene scene. They would have stuck out too much instead of looking like they fit right in.




Next I thought why not shoot at a pub. It's another location that celebrated Britishness and the band members would fit into the scene more. Rock music magazines tend to celebrate their music through the use of stereotypical British locations e.g. countryside, pubs or famous landmarks. But then I thought that maybe this location would suit an older target audience seeing as the band members are even under the legal drinking age. So other people might not like the idea of kids in pubs acting like adults, so I chose to look into another location.





The third location that I thought about using is something urban with graffiti. The graffiti creates an effect of rebellion which screams of youth culture.  I liked the idea of under a bridge because that way, it makes it seem like it's the band's personal hangout spot, like your trotting on their territory. It would also be referencing today's youth culture of having these special hangouts. The band members would also fit right in to the scene. Even though for covers the background would usually be plane, I hope I could use this for a smaller related image.





Lastly, I decided to use this kind of location for my double page spread's main image. It had everything I wanted including hard lighting which will give the band members a glowing look; the nature may not be in the countryside but it still looks like a classic English park; and the gazebo will help to make the members look like they fit in. The shape of the gazebo will make the members have a fell of intelligence and not just be a classic stereotype of youth. And even though the style of the gazebo and the style of the band may look completely opposite, I think it will create a nice contrast.

Comments on Font Ideas

I uploaded all of my font ideas onto a forum and asked people to tell me which they think is the best for a rock music magazine. After people wrote their ideas, I decided to take screen shots of them.
In the end, most comments liked font no. 3. I also liked it because of the gritty scratched up look and the rebellious danger kind of feel. It was also easy to read and compared to the others, was most reflective of my target audience.

Music Questionnaires Analysed

After giving out all of my questionnaires, I got them all back and analysed the results.
I discovered that my target audience, besides from liking rock, another popular choice was POP, metal, indie and R&B so maybe my magazine can occasionally stray away to artists that are in rock and some of the other preferred genres. I also discovered that some of the most popular types of rock were alternative rock, hard rock and soft rock so maybe I could give my magazine a slightly rough but cool feel for the brand identity.


From 1-10, music affects my target audience life on average of about 7, so I know music does play a role in my target audiences' lives and moods, if not a major one. It also shows my target audience have a genuine interests and passion in music and would enjoy my magazine.


As for favourite artists, there is a wide variety amongst my target audience, but one thing is definitely clear, that the reason why the audience like those artists is either because the artists inspire the audience with their music and make them feel special or reflect their personality, or the audience likes the band's uniqueness  or the strong meaning behind the lyrics. Some of the most popular choices were 


I also found out the half of my questioned audience play an instrument. Most commonly guitars, bass and drums. I could possibly have adds for best places to buy quality instruments. 


I discovered that my target audience attend gigs either frequently or sometimes. Some of my target audience don't always have time to attend them, and some say that live music is usually not as good. But people who get the chance to attend like the fact that you get to hear live music and be with friends in an exiting. They also like that you get to meet the bands face to face and meet like minded people at the gigs.  


I also discovered that my target audience on average read music magazines sometimes and that they are willing to pay anywhere from £2.50 - £5.00 for a quality music magazine. I can use this information to set a price for my magazine.


My results show that the main things my audience enjoy about music magazines are the articles,  music news, photos and freebies. I will use this information and turn them into possible sell lines I can display on my cover e.g free posters/CD. I can also use this information in the contents page to decide how many pages to do on each or the features.


Lastly, I found out that the features of a magazine that are most likely to grab the audiences attention are a mixture of the title, the main image, colours used and text. I will make sure that my magazine cover has colours that can stand out and text that can grab peoples interests. I will also make the main image look as professional as I can and the same will go for my mast head, which will be made big and bold so it can stand out well.


Hopefully this information I have gathered will help me in improving my design for my 3 pieces.

Font Ideas

These are some of the fonts I chose that I think would make good fonts for my magazine's masthead. I have also written what I like and don't like about them and why would they be good or not as font for the masthead.

 I like this font because it flows and has a surreal look. But I think it would be too hard for people to see off the shelves because it’s not that bold. It also looks a bit too feminine, and my magazine is aimed more at men. This means if they see the magazine’s cover, it might not appeal to them as much.

I like this font because it’s bold and has a more rocky feel. It would be easier to spot of the shelves and I think it would appeal to men which are my primary target audience. But I think that this font to more suitable for heavy metal magazines and does not fit my magazines personalty like I would want it to.

 I like this font because it stands out well and has a rough, slightly violent feel. It has a similar look to Kerrang magazine but the scratchy texture is less severe. I think this would appeal to my target audience and has that rebelliouse rock n roll attitude. But it looks a bit too square and doesn’t have it’s own charater which could cause readers to get bored of it.

I like this font because it’s similar to the first font, but it’s bolder and has a more rough effect. I think this would appeal to both the male and female audience without appearing too feminine.  My only concern is that it might not bold be enough to catch attention and the effect on the text makes it a bit hard to read by taking out parts of the letter.

I chose this font because it is bold and would stand out well on shelves. I think it would appeal well to the target audience and has the right style that would fit in well with my magazine. The rough effect is just the right amount so that it doesn’t make the text less readable and I like that the ‘E’ looks like its being pushed out. However I wonder if this font might appeal a bit too metal music instead of rock, but I still find it attractive.

I chose this font because I think the style of the text is what I would like my magazine to have.  I like the style of the ‘A’ and the overall rough and worn out effect of the text makes the font achieve an attitude. I think I would appeal well to my male target audience and just enough to the female target audience. The effect on the text could be a little too much and I don’t like the ‘A’ being solid but that may help to make the text stand out.

Double Page Spread Analysis

I analysed two double page spreads form two music magazines that have a similar style of music to mine. I did this so I could get some ideas of what my double page spread could feature about and so that I could get used to the features and their names of a double page spread. 

Contents Page Analysis

I analysed two contents pages from two different magazines similar to my style of music. I did this to analyse how a contents page helps it's readers to navigate through the magazine and what feature I could include in my own contents page.

Magazine Cover Analysis

I analysed the front covers of two of similar style magazines as my own. I hoped that this would help me get to know the conventions of a cover page, see what kind of similarities and differences they have and analyses how they both try to attract readers attention.

This is an example of what one of my questionnaires looks like after it has been filled out by a member of my target audience. I hope this will help me decide if I need to make any changes to my magazine's design.

Music Questionnaire final

After receiving feedback from my peers, I discovered that many of them thought that all the general questions should be given at the start of the questionnaire and all the questions that ask about magazines need to go  at the end, so I rearranged the question structure a little bit. I also discovered that I forgot to give a box for opinions on why or why not do my target audience like going to music concerts. I appreciated their input and put their suggestions into action.

Music Questionnare Pilot

I decided to make a music questionnaire because I would help me find out more about my target audience and what their thought are on what is a good music magazine. I asked a range of open and closed questions so people filling them in would not get bored and I asked questions that I knew would help me decide if I need to make any changes to the magazine, particularly the from cover. This is my pilot questionnaire that I will show to a few people and ask for their opinion and if any changes need to be made to improve it.

Investigating Mise-en-Scene

This is an image of Billie Joe Armstrong. Within this image both back lighting and profile lighting are used, creating shadows and almost a silhouette. The fact that most of his face is covered in shadow could mean that he wants his identity to stay hidden from the public or possibly from the law since the background is on fire meaning they could have done something daring that’s prohibited. In summary, the shadow gives him an enigmatic or nonchalant look.  The light on his face is a different colour to what you’d expect; meaning it’s coming from a different source we’re not aware of, adding to the enigma and making our eyes concentrate on the light that shines on part of his face.

The background seems to be on fire which is making the artist stand out. This could be highlighting the fact that the band wants to stand out in the music industry and the fire could represent their fiery passion for music and the phrase ‘we’re so hot, we’re on fire’ comes to mind. The brightness of the fire could also embody their talent and that their bursting with ideas. In addition the fire could represent a sense of rebellion.

The artist’s hair is made up in a messy fashion giving him a rebellious look which could reflect his personality and the genre of music that he plays. His body language of spreading his arms wide shows that he is bold, reedy for anything to come at him and not anxious about expressing himself. These kinds of personality traits are stereotypically assigned to men. You can also faintly see a microphone which is an example of music iconography.

This is an image of the Foo Fighters. In this image you can see that the band members starnd out because of their black clothes against the light grey sky backgroung of natural lighting. This can emphasize the fact that the band whiches to stand out and be seen as something that is completely uneqie and different. The sky background could symbolize that the band want to be free and be able to express themselves withought being restrained like birds in a cage.

All of the band members are wearing matching colours. This could mean that all the members believe theiy are equal and all have the same vision of what they what their music to bring to the music world. Since the colour is black, you’d expect the scene to be more sad or gloomy, but it actualt looks lively and energetic. So the band are purposfuly contrasting themselves from what the audience would think. Their body language indicates that their vigorous and full of life. This stresses the point that their ready to burst onto the scene and devote their strenght to their music.

All of the  band members also have a simillar messy hair style and facial hair. This makes them seem more ruged and gives them a ‘fighting back’ look. The scene also has a lot of  music iconography like the guitars, drumbs and amp. These items alre also closely linked with rock music because you usually see them in rock music videos and always at performances.

This is an image of MIKA.  As you can see, he is looking straight into the camera with a vicious expression. This makes him look bold and daring. The expression on his face almost looks like that of a cross spoiled child which makes us think of the riches of famous rock stars and that they have those riches at their disposal. He is also leaning into the camera with a kid of ‘bad ass’ attitude like he’s ready to fight. These personality traits that he is showing are stereotypically assigned to men.

The clothes that MIKA is wearing show that he likes the style of classic rock bands of the 60’s that wore similar outfits like the Beatles, but he has added his own twist to the outfit by attaching things like crocodiles to the shoulders and flowers and polka dots to the front. This adds to the childish imagery he is sending across and maybe even pointing out his personality that he is still a kid at heart. His hair is made up in a messy fashion to give him a rebellious look like many other rock artists.

The background of this image is of a messy and cluttered room. The mess adds to the childish look because children are known for not wanting to clean up their rooms. Or it could be laying emphasis on the stereotypical rock star attitude of trashing a hotel room after a performance. Either way, it gives of a rebellious feel and makes the artist look nonchalant about the current state he is in. There is also the some music iconography with the amps in the background, and the glasses with the Union Jack show a celebration of Britishness by the artist.

Costume Ideas

The band members will wear costumes that will highlight their rebellious spirits and emphasize their fiery rock n roll attitude. Dark colours will be made to contrast with bright colours to make a visual statement that the band wants to stand out from the crowd and be recognised as something unique, but also that they want to leave their imprint in the world of rock.

Elements of the costumes will be co-ordinated but at the same time trying to keep the feeling of individuality and an ‘I don’t care’ attitude by letting the band members explore and improve their individual looks whilst at the same time encouraging fans to embrace their own uniqueness and applauding their individuality.

 To create glances of aspiration, they band members will ware clothes with childish or miscellaneous icons like skull and crossed bones or text that states random sayings that can be reflecting their personalities or almost controversial topics to show that band ‘aren’t afraid to go there’ and their confident enough to publicly display their opinions which most people are to scared to do. Or modern patterns like black and white stripes will be worn to symbolise criminals or people outside the law because one connotation of black and white stripes are criminal uniforms, which adds to the rebellious feel. But they also aren't afraid to ware something stupid just for the heck of it, and be set on making it their own 'thing'. It also shows they are up-to-date on some fashions. 

Women would ware pants or skirts depending on their personality, but they would not be de-feminized by the clothes, instead they would achieve subtle sex appeal by showing their legs through tights or show their character through the colours they like wearing. Their accessories also consist of bracelets, rings and necklaces, but that is to give them a a more feminine feel and show their income status if they want to show off. 

 Band members will also accessorise with small things like watches/bracelets or necklaces to show their more easygoing and modern side along with jeans which are commonly seen in rock bands. The clothes will also have a slightly worn look to show that the band members are in their comfort zone and performing is like second nature to them.