Final Drafts Up Close

Below is my final front cover, contents page and double page spread up close. I have created tags on each photo to explain why I included each feature on each page of the magazine...

(Click on photo to see tags)

(Click on photo to see tags)

(Click on photo to see tags)

Comparing My Third Drafts Against My Final Drafts

And now for my OCD to take place...My final drafts! After looking at my third drafts carefully, I decided to look at the little details and make sure there wasn't anything else that I could do to improve my final drafts. By looking back at my analysis of "acoustic magazine" and going back to basic with the typical conventions you would find in and acoustic magazine (and in general music magazines) I felt this helped me create my final drafts the best they can be. Below shows the comparisons between my third and final drafts...

Front Cover:

The overall changes that I made to my front cover was emboldening my masthead using Photoshop, to make it stand out more and catch my target audience's eye. As well as this, I added a bottom banner, where it has the tag line of the magazine "stay tuned with tuned in" and placed the "Britain's new acoustic magazine" at the top on the sky line, as I felt where it was placed before wasn't readable. I also changed the font colours around with the "on tour" and "find out how to win tickets" bit, as I felt again they could be more visible, so that was the main reason I changed the colours of this particular features.

Contents Page:

On the whole, I would say that OCD came in handy with my contents page, as I nearly missed out some crucial features that a typical acoustic magazine includes! For instance, they normally have subheading to split up there sell lines into different sections, which I ensured that I added in the end, as you don't usually find magazine having there features in numerical order, like I had done in all my drafts up to that point. Another thing that I noticed was missing on my contents page was to put the page number next to my thumbnails, so the reader knew where to find this particular story. Additionally, I read through the contents of my sell lines and realised there were too many exclamation marks, which resembled a pop magazine, so I took all of them out, as this wasn't a typical convention in acoustic magazines. Furthermore, I read through my editorial and realised it was a bit too chatty (although that relaxed, welcoming friendly atmosphere is what I was trying to achieve) I felt the "Hey guys" was again something you would find in a younger magazine. Therefore, I took that bit out and started it off with "welcome" as it is a new magazine, so that would be the best way to start the editorial off. Also, other little details that I picked out was every time I said the title of my magazine "tuned in" I changed the font to the same one as the front cover as well as the same font colour to keep continuity. Lastly, to ensure all of the contents fitted on (as some of the free space was taken up by the adding of the subheadings) I had to shrink the font size down to fit everything onto the page.

Double Page Spread:

As for my double page spread, I again feel my attention to detail, helped me improve my final drafts from my third.  One of the main improvements to my double page spread, is that I included the word "exclusive" at the top of the article. It may not be much, but I feel this was what the article needed to help it stand out and catch the audience's eye, plus it reinforces how exclusive this interview is as it was mentioned on the front page as well as the double page spread. Another improvement I made was to the article itself. As I felt there was a gap from where I had moved the pull out quote previously, I thought something needed to go there. Due to the fact I had included my 4 original pictures, I decided another pull out quote would full this gap. Therefore, I had to add some more context to my interview so I was able to pull out the quote I wanted to place in the space by the bench. I believe this particular quote reinforces that the artists is an acoustic one, due to her love for being outside, which in a way you would stereotypically think of when it comes to existing artists from this genre, as their music videos (as researched) where shot outside. Lastly, one of the most important features, I nearly forgot to include was the page numbers either side of the page! Without these it would be extremely different for the reader to navigate to each page. Therefore, if someone wanted to turn to page 24, from looking at the contents page, they would have to count the number out instead of just flickering to that page by looking for it at the bottom.

Conclusion:

Overall, I am happy with how my final drafts have turned out and I feel I have made a lot of progress since my very first draft! I believe that it does look more like a realistic acoustic magazine, as I have tried to stick to all the typical conventions you would find in an existing magazine form this genre.

Third Drafts Feedback

I decided to show the same people (from my target audience) who I asked for my second draft feedback to see what they think to the improvements I made made since they last saw it. Overall the feedback was positive, as they thought I had taken on board everything they said previously and the newest drafts looked more like a realistic acoustic magazine. Now the believe there are minor details and changes that I need to sort out in order to create the best publication I can. Here is a brief to do list, which I need to make sure I do for my final drafts:

• Try and make the mast head stand out more on the page (as it is the main thing the audience will look at)
• Make the "Britain's Newest Acoustic Magazine" more readable.
• Change font colours if necessary.
• Make the contents page more acoustic like, as at the moment I think there is something missing to make it look more realistic and fit in with the typical conventions.
• Add something in the space where the old pull out use to be.
• Add page numbers in!

Comparing My Second Drafts Against My Third Drafts

Again, like my "comparing my first drafts against my second drafts", I thought it would be easier to see all of the changes I have made from my second drafts to my thirds and how much progress I am making so far, by placing the the before and after (second and third draft of each page of my magazine) side by side....


Front Cover:

Contents Page:

Double Page Spread:

Third Drafts

Again, I have decided to put all three pages of my magazine onto one post. So here is my third drafts of my front cover for my magazine.

There are a variety of improvements I have made (taken on board from my second draft feedback) but other minor things I decided to change myself. One of the main changes that I edited, was flipping the picture around. I decided to see which way round the picture looked best on and I preferred the model, being positioned on the right hand side. Additionally, I ended up emboldening the title, as I didn't believe it didn't stand out enough on the page. I still think it could probably stand out more, so I will probably try to fix this in Photoshop in my next draft. Another thing that I made sure I included (which I can't believe I forgot to add on in the first place!) was to say that this is an acoustic magazine! As this is the first issue of a new music magazine, I thought it would be appropriate to have the tagline of "Britain's Newest Acoustic Magazine". Other minor changes I made, was the font colours. I thought I'd change the "find out how to win tickets inside" to black to make it stand out more on the page, however, I may mess around with the colours again to make sure the best colour is used to help it grab the audience's attention. Again, I changed "March 2012" to the colour white, but I'm still not sure that was the best move to make so I'll probably end p changing that again on my next draft. Like my target audience said in my previous post, the bar code needed to be smaller still, so I did, which meant I could enlarge the "Mia Melloway" font to ensure that it lived up to it's purpose of being the boost, by standing out and grabbing the audiences attention. Furthermore, I decided to enlarge the picture of the model on the front cover, so it was more of a mid shot rather than a long mid shot. Lastly, I made the skyline a little smaller, as I felt it was a bit too big and took some attention away from the rest of the main sell lines on the page. Overall, I am pleased with my improvements I have made on my front cover and I feel it is taking more shape. However, there are a few little adjustments I''m sure I can make to my next draft.

One of the main changes I believe is the most noticeable on my third draft of my contents page, it adding the two thumbnails of my model on the bottom left hand side. I realised that I hadn't meet the requirements of having 4 original images in the 3 magazine pages I was producing, therefore, I thought the best place to add the other two images I was missing was on the contents page. This resulted in my having to change the layout of the contents page a bit, as the picture of the guitar and stool was there, so I had to make the editorial smaller so I could move that next to it. Although, I haven't made that many changes to this particular drafts, I would say that it is slowly getting there to look like a realistic (hopefully) acoustic magazine. I personally think there is something missing from this contents page, so I am going to go back to basics on my next draft and see what the typical conventions you usually find in an acoustic magazine.

Out of all the third drafts, I would say that the double page spread, has most probably changed and improved the most! One of the first changes I made to my second drafts, was to add the old line paper border across the top of the page.This was not only to help the stand first and the name of "Mia Melloway" stand out more, but to keep continuity throughout the magazine pages. I think by including this on the front cover, contents page and double page spread, makes this feature a particular house style, so the audience can see and tell that each page is from the same magazine and if they went to buy it they would know exactly what to look out for. Another feature, I nearly almost forgot to include was the drop cap, that I mentioned I wanted to include several posts ago! I decided to use quite a swirly "S" so it fitted in with the target market being primarily girls and link nicely with the font used for "Mia Melloway's" name. Another improvement I made to the double page spread, was to move the pull out quote to the middle of the main Q&A article. the only problem with his action, is that where I have moved the pull out quote from (bottom left hand corner) it looks rather bare, looking at it again and therefore, I will add something to fill the gap. Additionally, I felt the text of the Q&A interview in places was hard to read, so I decided to add a  rectangle shape behind the text and fill it in white and then change the transparency to 63%. This way the text is more visible, as the extra layer of the faint white background, helped the red and black contrast against it and be able to read the article, instead of having to guess what some words said. Another slight minor detail was moving the name of "Mia Melloway" and the stand first slightly more apart, so you could tell that they were both on separate pages, even though the line down the middle isn't in place, you could still tell.

Conclusion:

On the whole, the double page spread was probably the most improved, as it was the main page that needed changing. However, I am over all happy with all the adjustments I made to the front cover, contents page and double page spread, as they are all starting to take more shape now, compared to where I first started.

Comparing Drafts Feedback

I thought it would be a good idea to ask my target audience to see what they think of my improvements from my first draft to my second and see if they can think of any change they would make to the magazine pages at this stage.  Here are there responses when I showed them the comparison between the two:

• "I think that overall the second drafts look a lot more professional and lot more informative for the read, compared to the first draft."

• "With the front cover, I think that by including the skyline at the top having a sort of motto for the magazine, brings it to life more. My only improvement would be to add something like "Britain's new acoustic magazine" so the audience know what genre music magazine it is. You could probably guess but it would be better to mention it on there so the buyer can recognise straight away and have no doubt in their mind that this is the magazine they were looking for."

• "You have defiantly improved the double page spread, as it looked rather bare and uninteresting, which wouldn't have grabbed your target audiences attention, I think. Therefore, the brief description (stand first) about Mia, teases us, the reader wanting to find out more. However, it could by made better by somehow making the text stand out more as at places, it is difficult to read."

• "I agree with your decision to chose the contents page with the old paper as the background due to the fact the text is more visible, as some of the text in the other one is kind hard to read. Also, I think with too much information on that page (which I'm guessing you'll be putting on) would ruin the one with the guitar in, whereas, with having a more simpler background you can add more and still be able to read everything."

• "I really like the font you have used for your title of your magazine, but I think it needs to be more bold to make it more clear and stand out on the page."

• "This is rather picky, but I can see that you have made the barcode smaller from the first draft, however, I still think it could be a little smaller as it is one of the insignificant things that should take up little space on your page compared to other more important features."

• "Straightaway, the front cover looks more "full", as before you could say it looked a bit bare. Now I think there is enough sell lines on it without over cluttering it and looking messy."

• "By adding the skyline on the front cover, is a great improvement to be honest, as it bring continuity to the magazine. Maybe you should include it in the double page spread too, so show that this concept is the particular house style that the magazine has?"

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Conclusion:

After reading the comments and looking back at each drafts, I agree with what was said and will take their improvements on board and include them in my next draft! I have decided to make a quick to do list so I can refer back to it when making my third drafts.

• Mention that this is an acoustic magazine.
• Change font colours where unnecessary.
• Make the bar code and price smaller on the front cover. 
• Embolden the mast head.
• Add two more original photos on the contents page (as i have realised I have not meet the specification of having 4 original photos include in my magazine.
• Add the old line paper somewhere on the double page spread.
• Add a drop cap (looking back at my previous posts, I remembered I mentioned that I wanted to add this in so that's what I will do!)

I'm sure that I will end up changing more things that I have mentioned above, but here is a brief to do list that I will follow for my third drafts. 

Comparing My First Drafts Against My Seconds Drafts

I thought it would be easier to see all the changes I have made to my second drafts from my firsts by comparing them against each other. Therefore, I will place them side by side (so show the before and after stage of each draft) so you can see the improvements I have made.


Front Cover:

Due to the fact that I didn't know which one to chose from my first drafts I have uploaded each one putting the old ones on the left and the second drafts on the right below.

Contents Page:

      
Double Page Spread:
Throughout my post I have been putting the pictures side by side so you can see the comparisons, however, I am unable to put the images next to each other, I will place the first draft on top and the second draft below.

                        

Second Drafts

Although, I have previously split my first drafts of my front cover, contents page and double page spread, into different posts, I thought it would be best to have all of the pages in my magazine that I am working on, all together to see and talk about the improvements I have made to each. 

Front Cover:

Here is my second draft for my front cover, where I have added a few minor details and improvements, which will hopefully make my acoustic magazine look more realistic. The first thing I did before starting editing the first draft was to go back to the basics and see what were the most common and typical features you would find in a music magazine. One of the most important things that I had completely forgotten about to put in, was to add a skyline at the top of the page, with the a tag line for the magazine. I don't know many magazines that don't have a tag line included or even a skyline on their front cover, so therefore, I ensured that I came up with a tag line that was relevant to the mast head of the magazine and the acoustic theme I was going for. This is how "STAYED TUNED WITH TUNED IN" was born! Usually the skyline is a different colour than the rest of the colours on the page to help it stand out and draw the attention of the reader to it. Therefore, I tried and tested the skyline with a variety of colours, such as red, white and black to try and fit in with my 3 colour scheme, however, I didn't feel like it fitted in well or even stood our from the page that much. Then I remembered I had used the old paper on my first draft of my contents page and thought that I would use that for my sky line as not only will it hep the tag line stand out but it will keep continuity throughout the magazine, so the audience can tell that all these pages are from the same magazine. This could also be seen as a typical house style you would find in this magazine to help the readers know what to look for of they wanted to buy this magazine. Secondly, I realised that I hadn't added a teaser to my main sell line which was about the new star on the block Mia Melloway. Also, as Mia is a new star, this would be her first ever interview she has had and therefore, I added the anchorage/buzz word of "Exclusive". I thought it would be best to have it in a box so the word stood out to show it's importance. Lastly, I changed a few colours of the fonts that I had used. For example, I change Taylor Swift from black to blue to help the sell line stand out and I changed the date of the magazine from black to white, again to help it stand out to the audience.


Contents Page:

As I mentioned in my previous post about my first drafts of my contents page, I was undecided one which one to chose. Therefore, I edited both as you can see to help my decide which one to use for my magazine and edit until I am completely happy that it looks like a conventional contents page from an acoustic magazine. The main improvement I have included on this contents page is by adding an editorial, as these are commonly on music magazine. Although, it is not on the one I have looked at specifically (acoustic magazine) I believe this is extremely important to include as this is a brand new magazine so the audience need to know what is included and what they can expect from this publication. Another difference between each of these drafts from the first, is that I have changed the layout around. For instance, the first picture on the left hand side had the text on the left hand side, however, as I couldn't fit the editorial and the features on, I had to move the design all around. With image 2 (on the right) I had to shrink the font size down, as again I couldn't fit everything on without making this improvement. I also decided against having a picture of the editor (which is a typical convention) because of the fact that I am my own model, I think it would look strange having the model and the editorials the same person as that wouldn't usually been seen in existing magazines. Overall, I have decided that I will continue using image  2 (on the right) for my third drafts, as I believe that the text is more visual be on that one compared to image 1 and you can't really see the guitar as well as you could in the first draft.

Double Page Spread:

With my double page spread I would say that I have made several verifications to it, to make it look better and mire like a conventional article. Going back to basics, like I mentioned earlier on in the post, I thought it would be best to look back at my previous work such as my textual analysis (even though they weren't on acoustic magazines) and my deconstruction of "acoustic" the music magazine. One of the first main changes that I made, was the adding of the stand first, a little description of the new artists. As I discovered, without this information no one would know who she is (apart from her name). Therefore, by including the stand first at the top, I had to then move the pull out quote of "it is always better to have tried and failed than have failed to try!" to another place. I believed that the where Mia was sitting on the bench looked rather bare so I thought it was the best place to put the quote. Furthermore, I decided that the font colours, where the wrong choice and didn't really keep continuity with the rest of the magazine. Therefore, I changed it from blue and red to black and red, as this would link to the colour scheme I have used so far in my front cover and contents page. Also, I believe these colours are more easy in the eye and you can read the comet easier. However, I'm not sure you can read all of the black font at the bottom, so I may need to change the transparency or something in my thirds drafts, so the audience can read the text better.

First Draft Of The Double Page Spread

Here are my three possible double page spreads, that I have created for my first drafts. As, I have done for the rest of my first drafts, they include the same article about the artists Mia Melloway, but have different pictures of which I was unsure to chose. As, I mentioned in earlier posts (especially my brief mock up draft and pictures that I am going to use) I was going to test out two different layout options, which I am undecided would look best for my magazine. Therefore, I have two different pictures that I liked, with the design of having the main image taking up half of the double page spread and the text taking up the other half. The picture at the bottom is the other layout I also like, which is having the picture cover the whole of the double page spread and the text being layered on top. Again, I have tried to keep continuity by having the same guitar used throughout on the front cover, contents page and double page spread, as well as all the features included on each draft.

Conclusion:

After comparing all three images against one another, I have decided that I prefer the layout of image 3, as  in my opinion it looks more aesthetically pleasing on the eye and also, I do not like having too much white half the page because it looks to plain and boring. However, I do still like the images on picture 1 and 2, so I may use these as thumbnails or something on one of the other pages of my magazine. There are several aspects about image three I'm not so keen on, but this is what I shall take on board for my second drafts.

First Draft On The Contents Page

Again, as I mentioned in my previous post that as I am a rather indecisive person, I have done 3 first drafts for each of my front cover, contents page and double page spread. Like I said in my front cover post, they all look rather different but still include the same content, just have a different picture that I have used for each draft. I tried to ensure that I kept to the typical conventions that you find on an acoustic contents page, which is defiantly including a guitar somewhere on the page (check!) To ensure that I have kept continuity with my front cover, I have kept the same fonts used throughout my contents page. For example, the "contents" headline at the top is the same font I used for my mast head on the front cover "New garden" font. Also, I have used "Bell MT" in the red subheading (to help people navigate to each page) like I used for my price and March 2012 feature on my front page. I also found this old paper image off the internet when I did my post inspirational photos, which inspired me to try this out on my contents page (as you can see I have tried to incorporate it in each contents draft).

Conclusion:

With the contents page, I have found it more difficult to decide on which image I believe has more of an acoustic feel to it. Currently, I have stuck between image 2 and 3. This is because that I prefer different aspect of each drafts and at this moment in time it is hard to chose between the two. Also, they are completely different, which does not help making my decision any easier. Therefore, what I think will be best to do, is to carry on editing both drafts and then decide which one looks better once I have added more features onto it and changing the design around.

Front Cover First Draft

As I was unsure about which picture to use for my first draft, I decided to edit the three that I shown in my presentation I made in my previous post. Although each edit look slightly different, this is only because I had chosen 3 different poses and therefore, I had to change the position of some features as well as the colours for the fonts I've used, due to the lighting on the page. However, I have still included all the same features in each of the drafts, so it is fair to compare them against one another. When constructing my front cover, I kept in mind my results from my questionnaire, my sketches, as well as what I thought would appeal to my target. I decided to stick to the typical conventions that I found out in my textual analysis of music magazines, such as the mast head at the top for example. Going back to my fonts post, I have stuck to choosing font three, as it links to the nature idea of my acoustic themed magazine. I made sure that I chose three pictures that all included my guitar in, to ensure that at first glance of the front cover, the reader can recognise that it is an acoustic magazine. 

Conclusion:

Overall, after weighing up the pros and cons and deciding which one I would prefer I have come to the decision that I am going to use image 2. This is mainly due to the fact that with picture 1 and 2, they don't give off the vibe that this magazine is for people who aspire to be talents acoustic musicians, as in number 1 the talent is not actually playing the guitar and number three you can't tell if the guitar is being played or not. So, for this reason and many others, I believe this is a more appropriate and convincing image that would appeal for my target market. Therefore, I am going to carry on editing, until I am completely happy that it has all the typical conventions that you would find on a front over of an acoustic magazine.

Which Photos To Use?

I thought it would be to choose my favourite three pictures for my front cover, contents page and double page spread , out of my 30 original photos I liked from my photo shoot. However, after narrowing it down to three pictures each, I got stuck on which ones I liked to edit for my first drafts. Therefore, I have decided to use all three pictures (for front cover, contents page and double page spread), edit them and then choose which image would look best for each purpose. I made a presentation so show the pictures, I am deliberating against and the reasons why I like them and it's hard for me to narrow them down at this stage...

Deciding Which Photos To Use

View more PowerPoint from Catherine Baker

Contents Article Ideas

After thinking of what would attract my audience to my magazine, I decided to think about what sell lines to include for my publication. Looking back at what I what I have written in my previous post, I came up with some names to call each article. At first I wanted to keep the same theme of having each feature, replaced by a song from an acoustic artist, to link in with the theme. However, I couldn't find lyrics to fit in with the features I wanted to include in my magazine. Therefore, I tried to use play on words with my title "Tuned In" and use some songs from artists e.g. "wordplay" is by Jason Mraz and "speak now" by Taylor Swift, as I was unable to play on my mast head for more than a couple of features. Overall, I came up with these names for my article I want to include an a brief description that I will probably place underneath on my contents page.

·         Retune Your ears – Hear the latest acoustic singles and albums out this month

·         Heads Up – Tuned In give the heads up on the latest talent on the block

·         Mia Melloway – Meet the girl behind the guitar in this exclusive interview!

·         Jason Mraz – His most honest and inspiring interview ever!

·         Gig Guide – Tuned In tunes in to find you where the best gigs are at this month

·         Speak Now – Have your say!

·         Wordplay – Guess the lyrics quiz

·         The Brits – Who’s nominated this year?

·         John Mayer – Find out what he’s up to this year!

·         Performance Tips – Guaranteed to make you succeed!

·         Tuned In Top Tips – Acoustic artists aspiring advice

·         Your Song – Create your own song competition to win Taylor Swift Tickets

·         Free Acoustic Compilation CD – Top Tunes from Top Artists

My Design Philosophy

After doing thorough research into looking and analysing the typical conventions of music magazines, I have a vision of what designs I like and do not like to include in my publication. As well as this, I have more of a clearer idea of what I want to include in my product and what I want my publication to look like. Looking back through my previous post, I believe the Four F’s are the most important factors to the design of any music magazine.

I have noticed that throughout music magazines, continuity is key! So I will try and keep the format the same e.g. keeping sell lines fonts on the front cover, in the contents and double page spread the same. The formula for my magazine, I will need to keep in mind, as this is what particular elements make up the product.  Also, this is where the readers can easily navigate around the magazine, for example, acoustic artists interviews as usually presented in the centre, so I need to stick to this convention. Frame is also important in my magazine, as I need to make sure the margins and gutters around each page are the same. Lastly, the function of the magazine needs to be clear, so my target audience can tell is it an acoustic magazine, just by looking at the front cover (but also keep the theme throughout my publication of course!). 

To ideologies matter?
Ideologies do have a rather huge impact on the design of magazine. This is due to the fact that audience are used to particular layouts, house styles and colour schemes for certain genres in the music industry. Therefore, if I did decide to challenge the ideology, would confuse the reader in thinking that my product is mean to be aimed at another genre instead of acoustic style music. For example, an ideology in my particular genre, acoustic, you would expect someone to have a natural looking pose, playing or holding a guitar in their hands. If I decided to change the pose to a cheesy smile, wearing bright colours and holding a lolly pop, to represent a more pop ideology, this would confuse the reader, doubting their initial thoughts they had when thinking of this genre. I believe ideologies must be stuck to, just like sticking to the target market needs, as they are most the important factors when designing a new magazine publication. 

Retro Vs. Modern

With retro designs, they are most probably more atheistically pleasing on the eye for readers, however, many publications has done retro design before, so I don’t think I will try and recreate something that is already out there.  Also, to suit my genre of music I want to create for my magazine, the target audience I believe would prefer a more up to date magazine, with up to date music, features and everything else I would like to include for my product. If I did try to do a retro design for my magazine, I don’t think it would work for an acoustic genre, plus I don’t think it would appeal for my target market either. As your audience’s needs are the most important things to keep in mind, when making any type of media text, I will ensure I stick to a modern magazine.

Conventional Vs. Unconventional
If someone is aiming to create a mass market, successful magazine, then a conventional design would be the most obvious choice to choose. However, original and unconventional publications like David Carson's Ray Gun, can also be a hit with some people, as he produce over 70 copies of the publication before it went out of business. Therefore, as it went out of business, it shows that audiences prefer familiar conventional magazine, as they are more likely to lose interest in original designs. In my case, the specification says to create a conventional magazine, so I am going to stick to the conventions you would find in any music magazine, such as direct mode of address for the front cover and the typical things you would aspect to see in an acoustic magazine e.g. have a guitar on the front cover. Overall, I will stick to an conventional magazine, as it will most likely appeal to my target market.

Minimal Vs. Cluttered Design
In my opinion, less is more, as it seems more sophisticated, as well as presenting the magazine a in having a neat and tidy layout. Although some people may argue that having a cluttered front cover tells the audience more about the magazine, making them want to find out more, I personally think that it could come across messy and too much for the audience’s eye to take in straight away. However, if you are creating a Rock magazine, then this would be the sort of look you are going for, so a cluttered design would be best. When it comes to my design I think I will use steer towards more of a more minimal design, but not having hardly any sell lines to make the publication look bare. Even thought, when I analysed “Acoustic magazine” it had about 7 sell lines in total, their target audience was aimed at the older generation, which would most likely appeal to them, however, for my age range, a cluttered design could scare off my readers by implying there is too much reading involved. Therefore, I will have to get the balance right for my design, as I think I will try and aim for something in between these design, as I want my publication to appeal as well as intrigue the reader to find out more!

Colour
When analysing some existing acoustic magazines, I discovered, they mainly included nature colours to o with the natural theme you usually find in one. As I deconstructed “Acoustic” magazine, which is typically aimed at males, they had colours that were rather masculine and dull. Therefore, as I am primarily aiming mine at females, I will use more female colours which as atheistically pleasing. I will try and make my publication, include natural looking colours and stick to the 3 colour scheme you most likely find in music magazine publications.

Consistency Vs. Inconsistency
I have a tendency to be a bit of a perfectionist and therefore, I’m kind of a sucker for consistency. Therefore, I am going to try and keep the same house style and continuity throughout my front cover, contents page and double page spread.  I believe that the colour scheme as well should be the same, to show there is a particular house style and make the publication look more neat and tidy. If I was making a rock magazine, being inconsistent would give iot a more “edgy” look, however, as I am creating an acoustic magazine, I think I will stick to be consistent, as it will appeal to my target market more.

Eye for Detail
This is a key aspect to keep in mind, when designing and creating a music magazine, as it help tie everything all together, making the publication look professional. I believe that if someone has spent a lot of time perfecting their product which shows as they make the publication more professional.  Also, in my opinion, if it looks like you have taken care with your work (in this case magazine) the audience are more likely to buy the publication, as it is such good quality. Everything to the last little detail matters, so I will keep this in mind when creating my front cover, contents page and double page spread for my magazine.

Conclusion:

I will make sure that I take on board all of these headings when it comes to me designing my front cover, contents page and double page spread for my magazine. This post has helped me a lot as it has help me have more of an idea of what I want my magazine to look like.

Attracting Audience

When it comes to creating magazines and any type of media texts for that matter, ensuring that your product attracts the target market is vital. Not taking into consideration of the target market interests and opinions, could result in them not buying your product. Therefore, pleasing the target market is extremely important, as without them, equals no sales made! As target market is so important in the media, I will make sure that I focus how my magazine will appeal to my audience the most and keeping them interested in my product. Below are a few things that I came up with to include in my magazine to appeal to my target audience.

• Top Tips From Acoustic Artists = As my magazine focuses on people who are aspiring musicians, I believe that I should include some top tips advice from acoustic artists to help them know how to turn their dreams into reality.

• New Singles and Album From the Acoustic Genre = I believe it is important for readers of my magazine to stay up to date with the latest music releases from the acoustic genre. Therefore, I will try and include this feature, so they are able to rely on my magazine to stay tuned!

• Latest New Stars = I think by including a feature telling everyone where the new star around the block are will aspire the keen musician to be one of them individuals. By knowing what people do to help them succeed in life will be an important article for my target market I am aiming my publication at. Therefore, I will include my double page spread on Mia Melloway as she is the latest star of 2012, which will help individuals that they can make it into the industry, with a little bit of guidance from other people's personal experience.

• Acoustic Artists Articles = Having acoustic artists who are well known for their music will be a good idea to attract my target audience as they may aspire to be like one of them artists. Also, I will ensure that I choose acoustic artists who were the most popular in my questionnaire answers, as they are most likely to appeal to audience by having someone they aspire to be like.

• Gig Guide = By having a gig guide telling my target audience where to find the biggest and best concerts/festivals around they will be able to attend the occasion, again also inspiring them to maybe doing that themselves one day. This also could give them a push in the right direction, by giving them the drive to start making their dreams become a reality.

• What on my target audiences mind? = I believe I should dedicate a page or pages to my target audience to have their say, as they are the main importance to help my publication sell. So, by them saying what they think could improve my product or anything about the acoustic genre, will help us take on board their constrictive criticism to improve my magazine if necessary.

• Brits = I think I may include the Brits section in my magazine, as it is usually round about this time of year on TV so it would be fitting. Also, it could show my target audience, with a little dedication and hard work they could win an award for their songs.

• Performance Tips = When analysing the conventions of an acoustic magazine, this theme came up a lot of times and therefore, I think this is a definite must have, in my publication. By giving a few top tips to play the guitar, or become more confident as a person should hopefully help people become less apprehensive about aspiring to this carer choice. At the moment their is a big jump from singing at home to having the confidence to appear on TV shows such as Britain's Got Talent or X factor. Therefore, this magazine could give them tips to start either getting a license to do busking, singing at different venues to build up the confidence to either appearing on talent show contests or going to record labels to try and follow their dreams.

• Quiz = I think I may include a section on quiz, as this is a usual convention that you see in a magazines, as well as music ones. So to make it more for  a music style magazine, I could have guess the lyrics quiz or something to make my audience think about which lyrics come from which artist and maybe even inspire them to create their own lyrics and songs.

• Competition = By including a competition page, will encourage my audience to do something to help them win that prize. Therefore, I will look back to my questionnaire results, see who is the most popular artists they would like to be included in the magazine and they either make a competition idea up so they could get free tickets to see their concert live or something that would appeal to my target market.

• Free Promotional Gift = Another convention that you usually have included in the magazine is a promotional gift to attract your audience to buy the magazine. To appeal to my target audience I think I will promote a free acoustic compilation CD, as from my deconstruction of "acoustic magazine", they included a free CD from a particular artists in this genre. I was thinking of a free plectrum or guitar strings, but wasn't so keen on them ideas.

Double Page Spread Article

Here is my interview, with my adapted questions that I created from my previous post. I believe the questions I asked would appeal to my target audience, as I have used chatty language to keep the readers interested and given advice to the keen musicians, who I am aiming my magazine at as well.


DPS Article:
The acoustic star, Mia Melloway, is the most talked about newcomer this year, being praised up and down the whole country for her debut album “No Turning Back”. It’s so good that she’s gone straight to number 1 in the charts with her new single “Home Is Where The Heart Is” and rumour has it she’ll knock Adele’s album “21” off the number 1 spot with her new album!  So just for you guys, we’ve Tuned In to hear all the hot goss on the bubbly singer-songwriter to discuss her music, her unexpected success and her new-found fondness all over the world.

So Mia, congratulations on your new single “Home Is Where The Heart Is” reaching number 1 this week! How does it feel to be recognised as the new star of 2012?

It’s so overwhelming to be honest! I’m still in shock with how my life has changed so quickly and I’m so grateful to everyone who have supported me and got me where I am today. If you had asked me 12 months ago where I thought I’d be in a year’s time, I would never have imagined I’d be here talking to you! It truly is a dream come true.

Speaking of the whirlwind year you’ve had, what has changed the most for you?

I think what still shocks me the most is that everywhere I go I get recognised and people know my name, it’s crazy (Laughs) It was only this time last year that I had finished my A levels and was unsure what to do with my life. I knew that I wanted to inspire people with my music one day, but I didn’t realise it would happen so quickly! My life is rather hectic at the moment, but I wouldn’t change any of it.

You say you can’t get over the fact everyone knows you now, did you keep yourself to yourself at school then?

Yes, I was rather shy and quiet back at school, although I’m sure people who knew me would disagree with that! (Giggles) I never had the confidence to even put my hand up in class too, as I was always afraid of getting things wrong.

Has your confidence issues always been a problem then?

Yes, it’s had a huge impact on me, as I’ve always liked being part of the background, instead of standing out from the crowd. I think this was one of the main reasons why I was apprehensive of this carer choice at first. However, once I got over the initial fear of singing in front of people, my confidence has improved so much and I feel I am capable of doing a lot more things now!

So when did you realise that you wanted to be a singer?

From a very young age actually! I’ve always loved singing and performing in front of everyone. One of my very first memories was on my 7^th birthday, I sang in front of all my family to Will Young’s song “Evergreen”. I even got my mum and auntie to be my backing dancers! (Laughs) I think from that moment on there are numerous videos of me singing into my hairbrush to a variety of songs. Not to mention my notebook filled with cheesy old lyrics and songs, how embarrassing!

How would you say music has influenced you?

Well, whenever I’m feeling down in the dumps or whatever, I start listening to my favourite songs, which never fail to cheer me up! Most of the time, I’ll get inspired by words or chords I can hear on acoustic songs and I’ll end up picking up my notepad and writing my own lyrics. Writing songs has helped me through some tough times and I feel has made me the strong person I am today.

Talking of your songs, where did you get the inspiration for your new single “Home Is Where The Heart Is” and your debut album?

When I first started out, I was inspired by my favourite artists such as Taylor Swift, Colbie Caillat, Jason Mraz, John Mayor etc, as I feel I can relate to their songs. I’ve always wanted to be inspirational to those keen musicians out there, like the artists who inspired me. I tend to write about personal experiences as well as emotions, like most acoustic artists. Love is usually mentioned, whether it be happy times or relationship breakups. Sometimes, I just can’t help but document everything I feel in a song. To me, all my songs are a collection of my memories, so when I look back at the years gone by, I can see how I’ve grown as a person and an artist!

I’m glad you’ve mentioned those artists, as it links on nicely to my next question! If you could work with anyone in this music industry, who would it be and why?

Ermmm, that’s quite a tough one to be honest! I’m inspired by so many artists it would be hard to choose from. But if I had to decide one person, I guess it would most probably be Taylor Swift, as I’ve been to her concert and she seems such a lovely person, so it would be an honour getting to know her, as well as working with her!

What advice would you give to individuals out there who, I guess like you, have had issues with their self-esteem?

The best piece of advice I could give to anyone is a saying that has got me through life so far “It is always better to have tried and failed, than have failed to try”. For me, that saying is so true because if I had not tried to be a successful musician, I would not be where I am today. Life is never easy, but if you believe in yourself then you will achieve! Always look on the bright side of life, as anything is possible.

Finally, tell us a bit about your new single and album!

Well, my single “Home Is Where The Heart Is” is basically about the journey I have taken to become who I am now. I have found my place in life and this where I want to stay. For me, music is my life. With the album, the songs hint at love and relationships, as well as different emotions that come with these experiences. The album, in general, is the journey I, myself, have taken. Maybe I’m just a girl on a mission, but I’m ready to fly!

Don't miss out on the chance to buy Mia’s new Album “No Turning Back” Released on 5^th April.

Questions To Ask For My Double Page Spread Q&A Interview

After looking on the internet to get inspiration for some questions for my double page spread article (that I mentioned in my previous and decision post) I have decided to make my double page spread in a Q&A format. I have came up with a list of questions that you usually will find in the music magazine questions and answers interviews, as well as making up some random ones up in my head. Depending on how much room I have for my article on my double page spread, will depend on how many questions I actually do include later on...

How does it feel to be recognised as the new star of 2012?

Speaking of the whirlwind year you’ve had, what has changed the most for you?

How does it feel everyone knowing your name? or are you use to be so popular?

Have you ever had any confidence issues, to stop you from choosing this carer?

So when did you realise that you wanted to be a singer?

How would you say music has influenced you?

Talking of your songs, where did you get the inspiration for your new single “......." and your debut album?

If you could work with anyone in this music industry, who would it be and why?

What advice would you give to individuals out there who,would like to be a big are you are?

Finally, tell us a bit about your new single and album!


Conclusion:
Overall, I like the questions that I have come up with, as I believe these are the sort of questions you would ask for a new comer artist on the block. I will most probably use all of the questions, when it comes to making up my article, I may adapt some questions to the story I want to tell and convey in my interview. If I have room to make up and write more questions, I will but it all depends on the layout I choose and how much space I have for the text.