Typography Mood Board

Colour Mood Board

Advertisers Mood Board

Audience Mood Board

Production Schedule

Week 1 (28th Sept) - Preliminary Task - Questionnaire - Front cover & Contents mock-ups - 2 front cover analysis
(Time to decide genre of magazine)

Week 2 (5th Oct) Finishing last week's work - Create survey monkey main task questionnaire - 2 contents page analysis

Week 3 (12th Oct) Case studies on: Music magazine, Magazine publishers, Magazine industry - 2 DPS analysis

Week 4 (19th Oct) Analysis of main survey with graphs - Starting mood boards (fonts/colours/target audience)

[HALF TERM] Complete Mood Boards - Rough sketches for magazine

Week 5 (2 Nov) Original ideas statement - Props/location/costume report - Talent Releases - Equipment list for photoshoot

Week 6 (9 Nov) PRODUCTION START - front cover

Week 7 (16th Nov) front cover

Week 8 (23rd Nov) contents

Week 9 (30th Nov) contents

Week 10 (7th Dec) DPS

Week 11 (14th Dec) PRODUCTION DEADLINE - DPS

[HALF TERM]

6th Jan - 8th Feb Evaluations

Evaluation: Skills Development

                              Preliminary Task                                                        Final Product

                              Preliminary Task                                                        Final Product

This is a comparison between the products I created for the preliminary task and the final products. As you can see the layout, colour scheme, typography, photography, and overall finish have improved greatly since the beginning of the project. The main cover image is lit much better and it 'interacts' well with the typography. The photograph location is much more suited for the magazine as well. The masthead is more attractive and the cover lines are more experimental and attention grabbing when positioned at an angle with coloured boxes to back them. 

The contents page now has a layout that is more comfortable to read in its specified columns and I've added things like convergence and a band section. I've used more images than planned so that the reader has more to look at and something to refer to when considering the contents of the magazine. The logo is also more prominent, frequent, and simple which improves brand image.

Note: This Evaluation was completed before a few final changes were made to the contents and DPS final products.

Evaluation: Technologies

Note: This Evaluation was completed before a few final changes were made to the contents and DPS final products.

Evaluation: Institutions

What kind of media institution would likely publish my magazine and why?

A magazine's publisher depends greatly on the intended audience of the magazine, because every institution often caters best for specific genres and audiences. The first thing I would consider is how large my target audience is; whether I aim for a mass or niche audience. If I were targeting a large audience within pop-culture I would want my magazine to be published by a mainstream institution. Examples of this include: Time Inc. (IPC), Bauer, Dennis, Future, etc.

All of the major publishing institutions tend to publish a very broad range of magazine genres and not exclusively music magazines. Using these big names in publishing can reach the largest audience possible, but if my magazine is designed for a more specific and niche audience it would be better to use a smaller institution because it would be more profitable and practical. This is especially relevant because the genre of music that my magazine discusses is 'indie' music, so an indie label would be more appropriate. For example Clash magazine has its own independent label, but is more popular and successful than NME which was published by Time Inc.

Even if publishers like Bauer and Time Inc. have published magazines like NME and Kerrang!, I think it would be more beneficial and suiting to my target audience if I had my own independent label. This is because my audience are mostly independent producers of media themselves so an independent label would boost brand image greatly.

There is also the matter of considering how my magazine will be distributed. I think it would be a good idea to get the magazine published by some major retailers such as WHSmith or Asda to at least get the brand started and selling. 

After gaining some attention from the targeted audience, the magazine may have to stop printing and become available online exclusively. However I strongly believe that the intended audience will prefer something online as they are more in sync with technology due to their lifestyle. Monetisation will come mostly from advertisement and other converged medias that would be accessible online, such as an online shop, subscriptions, ticket sales, competitions, etc.

To conclude my magazine would likely be published by its own independent label and would gain most of its profit from online sales and advertisement.