Finished Front Cover and Progress on Contents Page

In the contents page I removed the previous image as it didn't coincide with my style. I drew a decorative image to fill some of the dead space and give the page some flair. I also filled in the contents with stories from the cover, features, and regulars that might be found in an R&B music magazine, inkeeping with my house style and two font styles from the front cover.

The finished front cover includes a masthead, headline, anchorage, menu strip, date line, barcode, graphic feature and other conventions of a typical magazine cover. It has a colour scheme of dark red, white and black, which is consistent in the contents page too.

The contents page is waiting for one more piece of photography to add at the bottom and then that will be completed too.

Contents Page

The contents page has now got a style and layout, and is waiting for the content of the stories and pages- then when these are complete, kickers and a headline and other front cover conventions can be added to the front cover according to what is in the contents page.

Editing The Front Cover

As my production work has came along, I realised the style of 'Chilled R&B' is a little too specific so I have decided that my magazine will reach a broader group of readers that enjoy any type of R&B, a little closer to the style of Vibe Magazine. So far the magazine cover has progressed with photoshop:

The Photoshoot

My main model Hannah was shot on Captain Cooks Monument and in Stewarts Park - locations with backgrounds complementary to my style of magazine. The outfits she wore were specific to the R&B style, often revealing flesh and having sexual connotations. My other model, Zoe, I asked her to stay in her school uniform as I had decided her place in the magazine would be titled 'Zoe; Youngest Number One' and I wanted her school uniform to represent her young age.

Analysis of Article, Research for the Double Page Spread

Magazine Conventions

Magazine Conventions

Ideologies Of Beyonce, R&B artist.

Readership Profile

My final front cover page, adding the last piece of text for the exclusive makes the page look complete but not too busy.

These pages are the 3 stages I went through in creating my contents page. Again using the magic eraser and eraser tools for the foreground images, the text tool for the written content, and also the opacity selector to take some of the harsh colours away from the background to make it softer, and have less focus in the page although it is such a busy background.

On its way to being completed, the front page has now had a background inserted behind the main image, with some text over the top describing the articles feautred within the magazine. After a couple more pieces of text to make the page look fuller, the front cover will be completed.

Contents of the College Magazine

Some of the contents within my college magazine will include: interviews with current sports achievers, aspiring sports students, and sport leaders and teachers. At the back of the magazine there would be a growing list of all the sporting results that have been achieved over the year so far. There would also be an exclusive on a member of sports staff or a well known sports student. There would be a news article that described all the recent events the sports students and teachers have taken part in; in and out of college. Also there would be a regular page into which people can write letters or ask questions. These contents have been influenced by the results of my questionnaire.

When I asked some sports students my questionnaire, all wrote that they would like to progress into sports careers in the future. I think interviews with teachers and other sports students would be relevant to the magazine as the students can get more information about their teacher’s careers and how they got to that stage. Also, interviews with students who don’t currently do sports as a main subject, or don’t do sports at all but are aspiring to take it, could be interesting as the current sports students could write into the magazine or talk to the student directly to help or offer advice.

More than half of the students that filled in my questionnaire suggested that either ‘Status’, ‘Success’, or ‘Respect’, or a combination of these were their main priorities. This suggests that they could be Achievers, and so the list of sporting results would be the achievements and nothing else- no commentary just a list. This would make it short and snappy and also is of interest to Achievers as it is a success page.

All of the sports students said that Sport was one of their main hobbies, which suggested that they don’t just do the subject because they have to, or because they are just good at it, but because of the actual love of it. A news article and an exclusive would be interesting as it involves their main hobby of sport and gives them information as to what everyone in college has been doing in the world of sport.

This image is the first edit for the front cover of the college magazine. Using photoshop with the magic eraser and the eraser tool, i could delete out the background, leaving only my subject, with room to add in a background suitable to my sports edition.

College Magazine Style Idea

I decided that after my first questionnaire result that my college magazine would be a sports edition- aimed at success with sports, and competitions.
I am now going to get a broader opinion from sport's students and ask them some questions from my questionnaire.

Results of the Questionnaire

My results are stated in this post. I felt that this subject was very representative of my target market, and that is why I chose to speak to him in depth.
For social group, my subject suggested that they were a ‘popular kid’, this suggests that they conform to what is widely known as fashionable- music and clothing taste alike, they often bring their own twist and something unique to their friendship group. They are outgoing.
The gender was male which suggests in the group they are often dominant in the conversations.
For politics, he stated ‘Labour until I die’; this shows a strong support, and strong beliefs. He is not swayed by other people’s opinion. The questions so far are starting to suggest that he is not in the ‘Socially Conscious Type B’ category in psychographic profiles, as this group are stated to have given up on society, and as he has a strong belief in the Labour party, and believes in society.
He is religious, stating in his next answer that he is ‘A Christian, believe in God’. This gives an insight into his background and covers one of the subjectivities.
His hobbies are stated to be ‘Football, Music, Golf’. Because he suggests that an interest he has is music, he could be a good candidate for a consumer of my magazine, and therefore his other answers could show that similar kinds of people to him would be potential consumers as well.
He suggests that his location (‘Saltburn’) does not have an influence on his media consumption. This suggests that media is more nationally or internationally consumed, rather than being specific to an area.
He circled ‘Success’ and ‘Respect’ as his biggest priorities and therefore is likely to be an Achiever as he prefers to excel rather than belong in a group. Often in friendship groups each person tends to be similar and in this case other people agreed with his choice. This suggests that if my magazine was aimed at this friendship group, a lot about future success and future prospects would be a popular read, rather than articles about friendships or being part of a group.
His parents both have high flying careers and he aspires to be an RAF Pilot. Having strong career decisions already made suggest his planning and that he is success driven, also putting him into the group of the achievers.
He states that (N), he is not brand loyal and therefore is not a Belonger.
He buys actual designer makes and not the fakes, he is not an Emulator, once again puts him into the group of the Achievers.
He did not state an answer for the final question, as he said ‘It depends’, and so this shows that I should research further into the question, and perhaps make it more detailed or re-write it altogether.
I conclude that my subject and his group of friends are mainly Achievers, whose desires are further up in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and are strong believers in political party’s and the way the country is run.

Case Study

Case Study, Chilled R&B

Reasons for Questionnaire

My reasons for each question are stated in this post. Age and gender questions are just to get basic, yet necessary information on the subject. However, discovering that our questionnaires are going to be used with only college students, the completed questionnaire will have the age question removed, as it is now irrelevant. Asking the question ‘Would you class yourself as being part of a social group?’ would reveal whether the subject conforms to a stereotype, a certain clothing sense, or a specific kind of music- this would drastically help my research into whether they would be interested in my magazine. Asking about politics is also looking into my audience subjectivities and categorises them a little further. Asking about religion covers subjectivities and also gives a hint as to their psychographic profile- Belongers tend to be religious, and this could give a hint to the subject being part of this profile. More questions that follow further in the questionnaire research further into their profile. Asking about hobbies and interests gives a general background to the subject and would suggest whether they even enjoy music enough to purchase a music magazine. Asking the subject their location fuels the following question: ‘Do you believe that your location influences the media you choose to consume? If yes, why?’ This gives an insight into what the subject chooses to watch, listen to, and purchase, researching further into the possible success my magazine would have with this subject. Asking the question ‘Which would you say is the most important to you? (Circle) Status / Success / Respect / Belonging / Friends’ researches into Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and reveals what the subjects desires are, and also again looks into their psychographic profile- with status, success and respect hinting at them being an Achiever, and the others at them being a Belonger. Asking whether the subject ever produces their own media looks into the uses and gratifications theory and whether the subject is a prosumer or just a consumer. If they are a prosumer it suggests that the subject is not a part of the hypodermic theory. Asking about family income and careers reveals the subjects social grade, placing them into a grade of society. The final 3 questions work on revealing the subject’s psychographic profile, giving a deeper insight into the background of the subject.

My Questionnaire.

Questionnaire.

What is your age? (Circle)

 Under 15 / 15-24 / 24-35 / 35-55 / 55+

Would you class yourself as being part of a social group? If so what would you describe yourself as?

______________________________________________________________

What gender are you? (Circle)

M / F

Are you into politics? If so, which party do you support?

_______________________

Would you class yourself as religious? Describe briefly your beliefs

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you have any particular hobbies or interests? State what they are.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Where are you from?___________________

Do you believe that your location influences the media you choose to consume? If yes, why?

N / Y

__________________________________________________________

Which would you say is the most important to you? (Circle)

Status / Success / Respect / Belonging / Friends

Do you produce any of your own media, as well as consuming it?

No / Youtube / Blogging / Home Movies / Other

______________

If you don’t mind stating, what do your parents do for a living, and what do you aspire to do as a career?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When you buy products more than once, are you loyal to the brand (Y), or do you swap and change (N)?

Y / N

Do you often buy actual designer makes (Y), or tend to buy the fake, cheaper alternative (N)?

Y / N

Do you plan ahead (Y), or do things last minute on impulse (N)?

Y / N

This photo demonstrates the rules of thirds within a photo.

If this image was of a band in a magazine, it would be clear that the girl close up and centered was the lead singer, or most important member of the band.

This photo is a close, low shot. It gives the subject power, or importance.

This photo demonstrates a close, high shot. It makes the subject look smaller, or more vulnerable.

Coursework Introduction.

This is the first blog of my music magazine coursework project. Over the course of this blog, I will present to you how I have been building up ideas for my music magazine.
I'm particularly interested in R&B music, specifically contemporary R&B and how it has evolved into Chilled R&B music.
The most natural choice of magazine for me to study is Vibe, an American R&B magazine which focuses on recent Hip Hop and R&B music. Vibe magazine is a magazine aimed at an audience interested in Hip Hop culture, and people who like to keep up to date with the latest artists to enter the Hip Hop and R&B scene.
My magazine would fill a niche market as there is no current magazine that covers Chilled R&B specifically, or that also looks at past artists that have influenced the recent R&B music.