Research into similar products - double page spreads

After my First draft I identified that the weakest part of my magazine was the double page spread because I feel as if I lack knowledge into how to create a double page spread that both looks authentic and holds some cohesion between the artist and the text. More so, I felt that I was not completely sure on what I was aiming for my page and to ensure the double page spread is equally as good as my other two sections I feel as if I need to solidify my ideas by researching into other music magazines to look at how the approach double page spreads and what style is suggested through them. Back In October when most of the research for our magazine was completed I looked into double page spreads (another example is available here) as well as front covers and contents pages of music magazines and analysed the effectiveness and of the house style, photography and layout of the pages and what aesthetic the magazine aimed for and whether they achieved it. From this I was given a basic understanding of what I may need to include within my double page spread E.G drop capitols, 1 or two photos of your main cover star and pull quotes. On the other hand, I also learnt that there is a wide variety of ways to approach double page spreads since the two posts I analysed had quite different double page spreads in my opinion.

This double page spread includes quite a few magazine conventions and features that are quite appealing and may include into my own double page spread such as the use of several images of the artist instead of just one which may reflect the different parts to the artist's personality or the different inspirations in her music while also looking very aesthetically pleasing. More so, there is a very strong sense of a house style within this double page spread with colours such as blue, grey and white mainly consisting throughout the page which is dominated by the fluorescent orange dress the star is wearing to immediately grab the audience's attention. I feel as if I have too done this to some degree as I have a house style of black and white for my double page spread but is dominated by the different tints of blue in my artist Tristan's outfit and so lures the audience's attention to him more so than anything else on the page.

I decided to also look into another double page spread to compare the two and see what features I found most effective from both. From this double page spread I feel that a distance is formed between the artist and the audience as a lack of symbiosis with the title and the photograph slightly hides the artist which I think may be the drawback to the title of the double page spread as I do find the font type used creates this rebellious and wild ethos the magazine is aiming for due to the graffiti style font used against a brick wall. Furthermore, the quite original and unique structure of the double page spread by having the article itself quite insignificant in comparison to the rest of the page allows the audiences focus to be drawn to Rita Ora immediately.

Drafting and planning - Artist Identity

Artist Identity

Name -  Frankie XX

Age - 27

Likes - Dance, alternative rock and electronic

Dislikes - Rap, Hip hop, classic Pop and Folk

Name of CD - 'Fear of tomorrow' is the name of Frankie XX's newly released album which is the first of many he states though he has released many of the songs as singles during the year Frankie has released exclusive content with his album including four new songs.

Cultural references - Though this artist was raised within England he does have a large influence from the Philippine culture and has slowly become introduced into the artist's music in songs such as 'Infinite mercy' and on his next album Frankie XX hopes to have a much larger influence of other cultures so that his music is more approachable to those all across the world 

Country - England

track lists - 'suburban sunrise' 'Dark religion' 'My moment belongs to you' 'infinite mercy' 'Surprise means nothing' 'Morning rider' and 'pull me down'

Previous history - After the musician struggled to rise to fame he decided that the only way to cope would be with alcohol which he slowly became dependant on. Though at the age of 26 Frankie had a revelation and decided to turn his life around and quit drinking which then inspired his newer music.

Motivations/themes of the album - Mortality is a large theme throughout this album which for some audiences may be slightly morbid but with Frankie's history with alcohol he admittedly came very close to the end when his alcoholism was at it's peak

Tour dates - The Frankie Tour will begin this July and the artist has decided to do a more low key tour with locations such as;

• Liverpool
• Sheffield 
• Bristol
• Nottingham
• Manchester
• Leicester
• Newcastle
• Birmingham 

Drafting & Planning - Articles part 2

After furthering my double page spread I found that my font size was extremely too large from my feedback on my first draft and so researched into the size of font through research into double page spreads. I found that the size of font on a article within a magazine is usually point 9. From this I decreased my font size but found that I needed much more article pieces and so added to which and wrote;

"With such a high raise to fame in a very short amount of time people are questioning whether or not the fame will get to Tristan though he believes he will stay quite grounded through the help of his friends and family and spending most of his time with them when outside of the studio.‘The music industry was nothing like I expected’ as he states that the hardest thing about being a musician is having to create these extremely personal and heart felt songs and then suddenly just give it to the whole world, ‘like what if they hate it or misinterpret what I’m saying like it’s so important my fans enjoy my music as much as I do!’

The musical phenomenon is slowly becoming a world wide sensation with having a 5 night show coming up in the O2, London  which sold amount in a matter of minutes. With over 100,000 people coming to see the artist this week alone it’s hard to comprehend how Tristan handles the pressure and since Turner has never played to an audience bigger than 100 it’s an immense jump ‘even the supporting acts have played to bigger audiences!’ States Tristan when Fierce asked him how he felt having so many people wanting to see him perform. With all the opportunities that have been available to Tristan it’s a shock to here that he had only played in small pubs until this year though releasing 3 singles last year all hitting the top of the charts. ‘I am eternally grateful for all the opportunities the music industry has opened up for me I still find it hard to cope with being under the media’s microscope constantly’.

Being raised without a mother has had a large toll on Tristan as he believes he has felt an absence that his father could not fill when growing up that never really left him. Apparently, his mother passing away at such a young age has created inspiration for the majority of the music he writes such as ‘Suzie’ a single Tristan Turner released last year which positioned No .1 for 6 weeks on the charts which was actually inspired by his mother. Although it is evident that Tristan has been deeply affected by his mother’s absence his father has had a real inspiration in his music, ‘My dad always taught me to live my dreams because one day you're not going to be to dream of it.’ The artist stated that his particular music taste stimulated from the old records in his father’s attic, which his mother would listen to before he was born, feeling a connection to her that only music can bring.

 After his first album release Tristan hopes to pursue more into his career and is starting to plan his world tour ‘being able to show the world my music would be the biggest honour I could have and even considering that as a possibility is immense During this year Tristan will be travelling to 11 cities throughout the UK, he’s still extremely excited to go around the country.  Tristan says that the cities he are visiting are receiving extremely exclusive and quite intimate gigs, much more relaxed compared to the world tour that (Maybe!) will happen.

A lot of people assume that all the hate I get effects my outlook on the music industry, when actually it gives me a better one!’ Says Tristan. Who goes on to say that  a lot of people assume his fame was just given to him through an already established artist, but hasn't really worked for it though the artist had already been in the industry for more than 4 years prior to his ‘lucky break’. Receiving quite a lot of people take out their dislike to the artist through social media, informing the artist of his rise to fame just being a ‘gimmick’. Tristan goes on to inform Fierce that actually the ‘hate’ he receives gives him more determination to prove them wrong and that actually he deserves all the success he has and will gain in the upcoming year. 

The upcoming artist wouldn’t in on much of his upcoming plans or what would be included on his new album but did inform us that the album would include some collaborations with artists you wouldn’t expect him to work with and has included something new that apparently nobody will see coming, ‘I really enjoyed the music I made last year, but I’ve changed and so has my music which I wanted to show on this album!’ The release date to the album is March 20th and with the excitement already building the ‘Tristanators’ are more than ready for the new release."

drafting and planning - cover lines

The cover lines I have included on my first draft of my magazine are;

• 'Frankie XX Conquers the UK with new album'

The reason I chose this cover line as when collecting research from other music magazines such as NME one of the more popular cover lines mentioned usually discuss an artist releasing an album and so to create a more authentic feel to the magazine I decided that this artist would release a new album. Additionally, I mentioned the area in which the artist came from and how the album he has released has 'took over' the country, making the audience more intrigued into why the artist is so popular.

• Wolf Islands: 'It's us against the world!' All exclusive interview 

The reason I have used this cover line is because it immediately creates this controversial issue that the article will discuss. Also, it supports the edgy and rebellious aesthetic of the magazine since it quotes what the bands says which then also forms a sense of symbiosis between the artists/bands and the magazine. Also, including the word 'exclusive' makes the target demographic as they feel they are receiving information that they cannot receive anywhere and so are getting more for their money.

• 'Falling Roses say Goodbye! The fans, the feuds and the fall-outs'

The cover line uses alliteration with the 'fans, feuds and fall-outs' to make the cover line quite catchy and will stand out to the audience, More so, the controversial cover line gives the audience a taste into what the article will discuss and so they will be more intrigued into what's causing such an issue. 

More so, the cover line immediately make the audience feel as if the information is only available at Fierce and so must buy the magazine if they want the exclusive information.

• Tristan turner 'They said I'd never make it!' The exclusive interview

Firstly, the use of a different font for the quote highlights the importance of the main cover star is and will automatically draw the audiences attention towards the main cover line as it stands out against the rest of the front cover. More so, having the font in red contrasts against the black and white colours fonts of the rest of the page, which may imply how the main cover star, Tristan Turner, is prominent on the front page as well as the music industry. To add to this, the bold font type identifies to the audience who the magazine focuses on. Additionally, the quotation arouses the audiences curiosity as they question who said Tristan Turner could not make it and how the artist worked his way up to the top.

drafting and planning - tack listings

For my secondary artist, Frankie XX I have used song name generator to take inspiration into the names of the the songs I could have for my artist. Though I did use this piece of software for Wolf Islands the majority of their names I decided on.

 I randomly generated these names for my track listings for 'Frankie XX' on his new album 'Bring me back'. The names I have particular interest in are 'Surprise means nothing' 'My moment belongs to you' 'Rising God' and 'Morning rider'. I find that all four of these track listings are intriguing yet have variety within them, while additionally holding some Indie pop connections as the titles of the songs all discuss ideas that are usually discussed within the Indie genre E.g religion such as 'Take me to church'. I do find that the other names used are still quite interesting but are slightly too outrageous for an Indie artist, especially one that has a more grounded and laid back aesthetic associated to him.   

Drafting and planning - Experimenting with proportions/layout

Within class today to experiment with the proportions of my fonts on my front cover of my magazine I decided to find a magazine in which I have took inspiration from and compare the proportions as well as the layout of the page itself.
From this I can see that my masthead is slightly larger than the 'NME' one and so to make my magazine look more authentic I may to decrease the size of my masthead, though i made it that size to ensure that the target demographic can see it and identify it for the left-third of the magazine.
More so, I can see that the other cover lines on the page are about the same font size but are much more vertical, which allows the attention to be mainly focused the artist 'Liam Gallagher' as he dominates the page while also centering it which my magazine does neither and so I may take inspiration from this magazine and centre my artist more so into the centre of the page as well as making my other cover lines less horizontal as it comes very close to over-riding the artist 'Tristan T's' face.
However, I do feel that the skyline that I've used is slightly more effective than the NME as the yellow background to it makes it stand out much more than it would by itself. Also the use of yellow for the skyline adds to the house style of the front cover and so additionally draws the audiences attention to the pug I have used.

organisation - Photo shoot No.2 Photography

From my second photo shoot on Friday I was overall pleased with my photographs from the drama room/black box theatre. Here are some of the images I took;

Though I am very happy with my results I am disappointed that I never had the chance to take more that the amount shown above since my model Maisie had to make it back to her lesson. However, the photography I have took is quite fitting with the aesthetic of my magazine as the bold and edgy ethos of my magazine comes across very clearly through my band Wolf Islands due to the very stern facial expressions my models are pulling in most of the photographs (excluding the lat). 

The plain black background is effective as it doesn't allow the focus of my band to be drawn towards it and so the audiences focus sustains on Wolf islands. I tried a variety of angles for my photographs such as a high angle, extremely long shot, long shot, medium shot, side profile mid-close up and a mid-close up. I am definitely replacing my previous image as I feel that these images encapsulate the ethos of the magazine correctly and allows a symbiotic relationship to be formed between the band and the magazine, which i wanted. I did experiment with the use of flash and no flash but found out that without flash it was quite difficult to see the models themselves and so decided the use of flash was most effective for this photo shoot.

drafting and planning - Artist Identity

Artist Identity

Name - Wolf Islands

Age - 24, 23, 26 (from left to right)

Likes - Rock n' roll, the 60's, fashion, Marina & the diamonds, Halsey

Dislikes - Heavy Metal, country, rap

Name of CD - 'Perfect Poison' is Wolf Islands third released album. As the release date has been pushed back the album is expected to be released during late Summer early Autumn

Cultural references - Though all the girls are English, Zienna (Right) has cultural references from Africa which can be recognised within many of their released songs such as 'Honeymoon sweetheart' and 'Control me'.

Previous history - During the bands earlier years a disagreement caused a rift between the girls forming a solo career for Mia which became quite successful and after her career sky rocketed Mia asked her former band members to join her once again leading to their global musical take over.

Motivation/theme of Album - To take inspiration from previous decades and enmesh those sounds with the music of today

Tracks on album - 'California beaches' 'Crazy Baby' 'late night disaster' 'The last parade' 'Honeymoon Sweetheart' 'The dark side of truth' and 'looks like optimism'

Tour dates - The world tour that Wolf Islands will be going on starts in early 2017 visiting the countries;
- USA
- UK
- France
- Germany
- Canada
- Spain
- Australia
- Italy
- Brazil
- Greece
- Egypt
- India
- Turkey
- Argentina
- Russia
- China
- New Zealand
- Sweden
- And more to be revealed.