Inspirational Interviews For My Double Page Spread

As I have decided that I want to create an Q&A interview for my double page spread, I thought it would be a good idea to have a look on the internet at some existing interviews with acoustic artists in the industry. This will inspire me to think of questions to ask my model (in this case it'll be me answering the questions, as I am my own model) and what sort of language they use, so I know whether to use chatty and informal language or sophisticated, formal language. Here are some interview below that I'm sure will inspire me:

Interviews for double page spread:

Colbie Caillat Music Interview

Taylor Swift Music Interview

Kate Walsh Music Interview

Joshua Radin Music Interview

Fonts

Currently, I am in the process of searching for fonts for my masthead of my magazine. After an hour or so searching dafont's website I have narrowed into down 5 that all resemble either music or the acoustic genre that I am making.

Out of all the fonts, I think I prefer font number 3, as it represent nature, with the swirls of flowers that is incorporated in this font and also it is a rather simple but effective font that links in with the idea I'm thinking of trying to achieve wen making my front cover. Even though, I like how the first, third and fourth all have some element of music used in the font, some are too over the top and the other (last one) doesn't start with a capital letter, which I'm not so keen on. I was rather torn between font 2 and 3, as the second one, although is looks rather sketchy you could agree that the font is "tuning" itself which would link with my title of my magazine "Tuned In". I may end up changing my mind if the second font looks better than the first but for now, font number 3 will do!

Do Font Styles Matter?

Whilst browsing on the internet looking for my ideal font, I came across this article that was written a few years ago, which was rather interesting on the BBC website, asking whether type faces really matter? I thought that article was relative to my coursework as I found that I could use this information to help me with choosing my font.

Does Font Styles Really Matter? 

Some Decisions For My Music Magazine

This should only be a brief(ish) post on some of the decisions, I have made so far. As, I have decided to name my magazine Tuned In, I shall now (most probably in my next post) try and test out a variety of fonts that I could use for my mast head. Although I did come up with a variety of other names, I thought it would be best to take on board my target markets opinion and call my magazine after their preferred choice. I think it was a good decision to create a questionnaire, as it has helped me make several conclusions, which I doubt I would have come up without it.

As I have used myself as my model (not my first initial choice mind!) I thought it would be best to come up with a new name for the artist I am trying to create for my magazine. After much deliberation, I came up with “Mia Melloway”, (I have no idea where it came from) but I wanted to come up with something original and unique that it not similar to any artists currently, as well as having an acoustic feel to it, to fit in my genre for my magazine.

Another decision I have made for my music magazine is that I want my double page spread to follow the format of a Q&A interview with Mia Melloway. At the moment, I’m not sure how many questions, or what sort questions I will be asking yet, but I think it’ll all depend on which type of layout I choose and how much room I have to work with. One thing, I will do is to ask one of my friends to answer the questions for me, as I want unplanned answers where they think on the spot, which I can adapt to the type of style of writing you would find in an acoustic style magazine. Even though, the majority of magazines for this genre is rather formal, due to the age range I’ve chosen, I shouldn’t need to change too much as I’ll ask someone who fits in with my target market.

Looking back to the conventions of an acoustic music magazine there are several different cover lines on the front cover, which I shall try and incorporate on my magazine, however, I will have to take into consideration that, less maybe more for the age range that I am targeting. Acoustic artists are most definitely incorporated on the front cover, which I will definitely take on board and aim to put a few at least on it, to interest my target market to read my magazine. Additionally, I have noticed that quotes from the main feature article on the front cover are included and therefore, I have decided to try and stick to this convention too.

The general price of existing magazines from this genre is mainly around £4 as they are either accompanied by a “free” CD, guitar strings or a plectrum. I am hoping to offer a similar free gift with my magazine, however, due to my younger target audience I don’t think they would want to pay that much or even be able to afford it for every issue, so I’ve decided to go for a more reasonable price of £2.50. Another reason why I chose to have my magazine cost this much, is because my target market said they would be willing to pay £2.00 – £2.50, so their opinion means a lot to gain an accurate result to base my magazine upon.

Photoshoot

As it was a lovely sunny day (despite the wind blowing my hair in every direction possible!), I decided it would be the best opportunity to take my photos for my music magazine. I ensured that I took lots of pictures in a variety of poses for either my front cover, contents page and double  page spread, as with the good ol' British weather you never know when the sun will come out again next! I was going to ask one of my friends to be my model, as she is a keen musician and loves her music, so she would have been the best person to model for me. However, as she lives quite a while away, it's hard to find time when we both are free, so I decided to do it myself, even though I wasn't keen on the idea of doing at first, it would probably be easier! In the end, I took over a hundred photos, but cut it down to my favourite 30 and will decide later on, which ones to use for my first drafts and in the final piece. I think overall, I have tried to include everything that I possibly could that my target audience would like to see in a magazine, as I thought the variety of shots, in different locations with the mise-en-scene gave it that acoustic feel I was aiming for. Below, are all of my original photos, unedited, that I will test out and see which ones look best for which purpose in the magazine.

Shooting Schedule

I thought that it would be a good idea to make a do list and create a shooting schedule for my photo shot later on, as it’ll help me stick to my timing and knowing my I’ll forget something if I don’t! As I won’t be taking my computer with me, I thought jotting the list down by hand (even though my handwriting is a little messy!) would be a more portable and easier way of carrying it around with my so I don’t forget anything. Unfortunately, Erin, who was going to be my model, is unable to do the photo shoot for me this weekend, as she has other commitments. Therefore, I guess I’ll just have to do it myself, as it is a bit short notice to ask anyone else to do it. I would wait another week to ask her to do it, but you never know what the weather will be like so I think I’ll take the opportunity whilst I can! 

Risk Assessment

Before taking my pictures, I thought it would be a good idea to create a risk assessment, as the locations that I am thinking of using for my photos could have a variety of risks, that I may not have thought of until carrying out this exercise. By sticking to this assessment, it will make sure that I think about any risks that could happen on the day, when taking my photos and ensure my model is safe in this environment. It may be a little over the top, but it is better plan out worst case scenarios, to be prepared for any mishaps and prevent any unnecessarily hazards from happening.