Double Page Spread Analysis

This post will present my double page spread mood board and analysis to give more information about the house style and layout of a pop magazine - a similar genre to the magazine I am creating.

http://www.slideshare.net/Thenz801/pop-magazine-double-page-spread-analysis

Pop Magazine Double Page Spread Analysis from Thenz801

Contents Page Mood Board and Analysis

This post will present my contents page mood board and analysis to give more information about the house style and layout of a pop magazine - a similar genre to the magazine I am creating.

MOOD BOARD

ANALYSIS

Music Magazine Moodboards

In this collage, existing music magazines of J-pop, K-pop and Anime music magazines are presented.
The central images are positioned mostly in mid to close up shots. The magazines that features anime central images creates costumes and props that seem surreal because it creates a fantasy and creative effect while those magazines that feature people and bands has costumes which creates the image of perfection and an ideal model for the target audiences because the audience makes these people their role models.
The cover creates a representation of beauty being the most important thing. It creates the a sense of perfection and idealism. This shows that music magazines like these aim to have perfection inside out and these is what makes them appealing to the target audiences.
I observed that most of these magazines used white backgrounds which shows simplicity and brings more focus on the central image of the magazine. The colours used are also vibrant and uses the colour scheme of white, pink, blue and red. The font style are mostly in bold and in very creative font which uses neon colours that can attract the audience.
The types of articles that were presented are band music updates, fashion, new music articles and biographies of the featured models.

These are the potential music magazine covers that could be a template for my own music magazine. Since J-pop and K-pop magazines had always used white backgrounds for the magazine, I think it would be wise to use a more vivid colour for the backgrounds as I think colours that stand out more in the UK are those with eye-catching colour.
The central images are constructed mostly in mid and close up shots which gives the audience the idea of how the models look and what they are wearing. The costumes that was used in magazines that both featured anime and people are mostly what we see in today's fashion - chic, stylish, modern and creative. This shows that even the anime-featured magazines reflect how people of today dress up. The overall representation that the magazines is a creation of realistic perfection but creates the idea of something dreamy and imaginary.
The colours used are vibrant and vivid and set the colour scheme of yellow, pink, red and black. The font style of the title block are generally bold and are stylish.

Title Block Polls

These are the title blocks designs I have chosen for the music magazine I am creating "BE-BOP! [ビバップ!]    Voting slot is at the top of the page! :)

FONT 1

FONT 2

FONT 3

FONT 4

Thank you for your participation! :) Looking forward to your votes!:D

Title Block Analysis

I have created an analysis for 3 different mastheads of music magazines such as Kerrang!, Mojo and NME.

Kerrang!

Kerrang! is a rock-based genre music magazine. Because of the etched markings on the title, it shows that the magazine is quite rebellious and solid and shows that it is a rock magazine. The colour scheme consists of Black and white and uses a neutral colour which creates simplicity but such colours will appeal to the majority of the target audience which are male. The title of the magazine “Kerrang!” is an onomatopoeia for a strumming of an electric guitar which is a fundamental instrument used in rock bands and music. The title then shows that the magazine is appealing to music lovers and has a forte in rock genre. It also appeals to the the rock genre fans as it catches their attention by using a sound wave as a title. 

MOJO

MOJO magazine shows a bit of monotonous colours and creates a dull effect which is more likely shown in classical or antique music. It doesn’t really catches the attention of the audience unlike Kerrang! and NME which uses bright and neon-ish colours to attract their audience. The colours that Mojo uses are white, grey and neutral colours. And these colours are largely used to present antique notions such as classical and elegant music. MOJO means magic or charm which is relative to classical music as they present tones in magical and very majestic way, as if in a fairy tale. Also, MOJO refers to the older audiences where they use the word to describe their emotions and thoughts at that time. 

NME

By looking at NME’s colour scheme which are red, white and black, it creates the idea that the magazine is a rock and punk music magazine. The colour scheme gives off a very bold, strong and firm appearance which largely appeal to the audience. The font used is bold and large which is noticeable and will largely entice any reader as it is vibrant using a strong colour such as red which connotes strength and firmness. Also NME is abbreviated as "New Musical Express" which refers to the haste delivery of music [haste delivery - "express"]. NME is pronounced like the word "enemy". This shows rivalry between and among all the other music magazines. The target audiences are more likely to be in the age bracket of 15-19 because the title block appeals to them which is modern, powerful and fierce.

Final Magazine Proposal

Focus Group

The Focus Group tends to discuss the purpose and queries about the magazine that I am creating which is an Anime/Japanese-Korean Pop Music Magazine.

I found out that having different age brackets had helped in maintaining interest between the age groups and
it also distinguishes the audience properly as it gives proper attention to the different age brackets as they have different interests.

I also found out that it is convenient to introduce this kind of genre to those who are not fond of this kind of music but has an open mind. Being it for a niche audience, it is excellent to let other people know about the existence of this kind of music. I also found out that it would be interesting to the fans of this music as in the current market, there is no music magazine about Japanese and Korean Music even though it's popularity is expanding in the U.K.

Having an indefinite price range with a minimum of £1.00-£2.00 is really proper as it has a niche audience and the frequency is fortnightly. Also, the magazine targets younger audience who are unemployed and in school so it has to be affordable.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WATCHING!

Initial Planning of a New Music Magazine

Media Used: Adobe Photoshop CS6, Microsoft Word 2010

Sources:
http://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=40357
http://artrockerispunkd.deviantart.com

Questionnaire and Analysis

Questionnaire Link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XW98RBZ

Questionnaire Results and Analysis

 In question 1, the 3 genres that stand out most are pop, rock and R&B followed by KPop, JPop and Cpop.

This will help in determining which genre I will choose for the magazine.

In question 2, the audience are being updated through the Internet. With this result, it will help me decide whether or not I should publish the magazine through the internet or through printed media.

In question 3, 45.5% of the audience (almost half of the participant) don’t buy music magazines. With this result, it will help me decide whether or not I should publish the magazine through the internet or through printed media.

In question 4, most of the audience are willing to pay £2.00-£2.50 for a monthly magazine. This is a majority of votes will help me decide how much my magazine will cost.

  In question 5, I asked what the most appropriate title of a music magazine is and more than half voted for “Gravitation”. In this question, it seems like the audience would go for a familiar word rather than having an exotic word such as "Bebop".

In question 6, the audience voted for fresh music updated from controversial bands and artists for the topics that will be included in the magazine. This will help me choose out a topic for the main article that will be featured in the magazine.

In question 7, the freebies or promotional item that the audience would like to receive are posters/ signed posters. This will help me in what marketing techniques I could add to make my magazine more appealing to the audience.

In question 8, the aim is to find out the audiences’ sex demographics and most of them are female. By knowing the sex of the audience, I can give an overview to prioritise a gender over the other.

In question 9, the aim is to find the audiences’ age demographics and most of them are 16-18 years of age. By having an awareness of which I can address my magazine to, [which age bracket], it can help me decide over the maturity level of the magazine.

In question 10, the audience is attracted to the central image or model being presented in the magazine cover. This will give me awareness to make the cover image stand out than the rest of the conventions in the magazine cover.