2. The purpose of this presentation is to present my 3 initial ideas for my main task in a
professional way that displays clearly my plans, thoughts and ideas. The task that I am
to complete is to design a brand new music magazine – I will be designing the front
cover of the magazine, the contents page and a double-spread page from within the
magazine itself.
This presentation is beneficial to me during this research and development stage as it
allows me to present my potential ideas to an audience in order to gain feedback on
what idea to develop further and do as my final piece.
By using a presentation as the chosen format for my ideas my work is also kept neat and
professional looking.
The aim of this presentation is primarily to gain feedback from peers and other people
that could potentially be my target audience for my magazine and take on board their
thoughts and opinions of my ideas. From this I will be able to develop the idea that is
most popular and make any necessary changes by eliminating anything that was
disliked by the majority of my peers, and perhaps even add in something someone my
have suggested in order to improve my work and make it the best it can be.
3. Genre/ Sub-genres: Metal – predominately genres of metal such as
djent, deathcore, mathcore, progressive etc. that aren‟t covered as
much in existing magazines.
Age and Gender: 16-30 years old; the appearance is very masculine
and will appeal more to a male audience, however the content will
be appropriate for both men and women. This magazine will be
mostly appealing people who buy al lot of music and go to lots of
gigs/concerts as a lot of the content will refer to things like this.
House Style; Colour: There will be dark colours as this will work
harmoniously with the content of the magazine – “greyscale” with
„flashes‟ of colour e.g. De-saturated reds, purples, greens etc. Fonts:
Body of the text in the magazine will be in a standard „easy-to-read
font‟, like Calibri, as it looks professional and tidy too; titles will be in
more „distorted‟, decorative fonts that compliment the music style.
Language: “Adult” language used, rich vocabulary (appropriate for
target audience). Layout: Simple and clear, nothing to confusing –
it will look professional but still have a „heavy‟ layout in terms that will
go with the style of magazine.
4. Things to included in the content:
Interviews with bands that are popular/ going on tour etc. – new and upcoming
band interviews
CD reviews – get readers involved and give their opinion
Colum for readers to write too, best letter/ email gets £50 music voucher
FREE CD of new singles/ new bands with every copy of the magazine, posters of
featured artists
Images
These are the kind of
of magazine covers
that I would like for
this idea. I like the
overall layout and
design here, and the
use of colour.
5. Genre/ Sub-genre: Classic Metal and Rock – “Old School”
metal, classic rock, blues etc. and “80s music”
Age and Gender: An older audience, 35-40 years plus, though
it will be more than suitable for younger people too; this
magazine will be aimed at a predominately male
audience, though the content will be appropriate for both men
and women, I envisage that it won‟t be very popular with
females. The magazine will appeal mostly to those who have
grew up with an interest of artists and bands that are mainly
from the 70s/80s era.
House Style: Colour: Neutral and de-saturated, perhaps a little
„greyscale‟ – “clean” colours for a neat appearance. Fonts:
Body of the text is going to be clear and easily read, good
examples are Calibri and Arial. Other text in the magazine
such as the titles and inserts etc. will be in a bold, serif font that
is clear and stands out well. Language: The magazine is aimed
for a more mature audience and therefore the language used
will be rich in vocabulary and include lexis specific to the music
and genre. Layout: Because this magazine is going to be for
an older audience I want the layout to be a bit more
mature, and therefore the layout will be „clean‟ and simplistic.
6. Things to include in the content:
Interviews with „old‟ bands and artists – what there life is like today? Get the
audience involved so they can write in and ask questions etc.
Guide to where such artists are playing (festivals/venues)
Competition to win signed band merchandise and special editions music and
merchandise
VIP gig/ concert tickets giveaway
Images
Here are some
examples of
I like the colours possible layouts.
here as they are
neutral and
professional
looking and I also
like the
positioning of
things on the
cover such as the
image and text.
7. Genre/ Sub-genre: Goth/ dark metal – music magazine that
focuses on genres such as industrial, dark metal, gothic
rock, symphonic metal etc.
Age and Gender: This magazine will be aimed for an audience
of 18 years and above due to content. The magazine will be
targeted at both genders and include content that both will
find appealing and interesting. The magazine will only really
appeal to people interested in „Gothic‟ culture, fashion and
music, or people that are interested in and in to all that „dark
culture‟.
House Style: Colour: The colours in this magazine will be very
dark and include colours such as black, purple, greys etc.
Fonts: For this magazine I think the most suited fonts would be
fonts such as Times New Roman for the body of the
text, but then go with „old century‟ roman and calligraphic
fonts for the titles. Language: Rich in vocabulary with genre
specific lexis relevant to the music. Layout: The layout will be
„dark‟ but still remain professional looking – it will be neat but
unusual.
8. Things to include in the content:
Interviews with artists – „mini biographies‟ about bands and artists, new album
releases and upcoming tours
Top new release CDs to buy with reviews and ratings
FREE sample CD with every copy of the magazine
Competitions to win things such as gig/ concert tickets, merchandise etc.
Because this genre heavily depends upon the fashion and culture side that goes
along with the music too, there will be artists modelling clothing and makeup etc.
and there will be interviews about such as “How to get their look”
Images
I like the slight off I love the use of
centring the dark colours
positioning of this in these two
image and the covers and think
focus on the it works really well
face. – I also like the
positioning and
poses in the
images and the
text around
them.
9. Idea one…
“Personal choice/ preference but there is already a lot of metal magazines on the market”
“Good choice of fonts and colours”
“Might be repetitive as there are already metal magazines available”
Idea two…
“Slight gap in the market”
“Most appealing to a wider audience”
“Consider the age range a bit more – younger people would be interested too”
Idea three…
“Really different and covers a gap in the market”
“Stands out loads from other magazines”
“Good age range that would attract more attention – people under 18 would be „waiting‟
to by it too”
“Unique!”
“Ensure that it doesn‟t look too out of place though; make sure that it would fit in on the
shelves in a shop”
“Good language – talks on their level‟”
“make sure music is your focus, not the fashion and culture”
10. Having taken into consideration what my peers thought of my ideas, have decided to
develop my third idea (the Gothic magazine) as it is so unique and different and covers
a massive gap in the market.
However, whilst going with this idea would definitely stand out and be original, I must
ensure that the magazine I produce is still suitable and would fit in on a shop shelf such
as W H Smiths. I must also ensure that I don‟t get lost in the culture and fashion side to
this genre as it is essential that I stick to focusing on the music and not detract from this.
I think that this magazine idea is the best one to go with as it is so different; my second
idea wasn‟t very original and there is already a market for some genres like that, and
my first was different as it covered all the underground genres of metal that you don‟t
see featured today that often in existing metal magazines, but I don‟t think the
audience is as clear and it would be difficult to compete with existing magazines.
Now that I know that I am going to be running with the third idea, I want to develop I
further. Some ideas that I have had is to not only look at Gothic music and culture, but
to have a look at some sub-genres within this range too such as Bubble
Goth, Steampunk and Cyber – all genres like this are „untouched‟ as far as music
magazines go and I think it would be nice to compile them together as they all interlink
– It would make the target audience feel like part of a society too as it is a specialist
audience.