Organisation - Clothing

Here I have organised the costume I want my model to wear for the first draft of my music magazine front cover.

The clothing ideas I have chosen for example the denim jacket imply the cool and laid back feel since denim is a common material and accommodates the reader more so since they too would wear denim.

Also, the use of tartan material is quite popular and reflects the indie aesthetic that I hope to achieve within my magazine as the material too is quite a commonly wore one and so indicates \that artists of the indie genre are too laid back to care too much about their appearance, which will appeal to the target demographic. The use of black skinny jeans implicates the ethos of the magazine being 'urban yet professional' since black skinny jeans are the current trend and reflect the cover stars and magazines contemporary style.

However, as well as considering a denim jacket I also thought that it may be beneficial if I were to have my model wear a Harrington jacket as these jackets are extremely stylish and wore mainly by young adults, which is the target demographic of my music magazine and so therefore the target audience can relate to the artist more so.

For footwear I have considered either brogues or trainers for my model. I have chosen these two pieces of footwear as they are both on trend yet quite plain and not too ostentatious.

Drafting and Planning: Peer assessment of Remake-remodel task

For my Remake remodel task (http://scarlettasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/organisation.html) I received a variety of feedback on this task from my peers within class on what they found successfully revealed the aesthetic of the magazine but my peers additionally noticed improvements to my front cover that could be changed to benefit the style of magazine I was aiming for.

From My feedback I received feedback that informed me and what particular stood out and benefited my magazine's front cover such as;

• The proportions to my magazine were great and all cover lines and images could be seen well while the most significant parts of the magazine stood out such as the masthead and main cover line
• The skyline used was effective and immediately caught the audiences attention, which I was hoping for
• The layout to my front cover was quite successfully especially having the other cover lines surround the artists face as it lead the audience to notice the cover star immediately

Also, after receiving my feedback I found that there were some improvements that could be made to my magazine front cover which were;

•  I could use the highlighted colours within the mast head 'Billboard' such as Blue, green and yellow as well as the red which I used to create a house style that uses all the colours within my front cover and so nothing on the page looks abnormal or not fitting.
• I could change the colour of my font for the main cover line 'Berina' and for the other conventions such as the URL, the price and the issue date as it is quite difficult to see and may strain the audiences eyes and so to make it easier for the audience to notice both of these conventions I will need to use a font type that doesn't blend in with the photography but actually is conspicuous

This will help me in the construction of my project as I will now be able to highlight what areas of my front cover can be altered to enhance the ethos of the magazine I am hoping to create and to ensure my front cover looks proffessional yet edgy enough to appeal to my target demographic while also looking as if it was a real issue of 'Billboard' magazine.

Drafting & Planning - Draft

Here, I created a draft of my layout for my front cover of my music magazine. I have considered a range of different conventions I could include such as a puff, pugg, anchorage text and a Skyline but in my opinion the front page would then be too strong and I am hopefully going for a more simplistic style so the audiences main focus is on the cover star, which I will not be able to achieve If I use all the different conventions that could be used.

I have chosen to add a skyline to my draft version of my front cover as I feel that it would be effective in portraying the aesthetic of the magazine as a skyline stands out against the rest of the text due to where it is placed on the page, the audience will more likely notice the skyline before any of the text and so ensuring the skyline some how reflects the genre of music I have chosen, the target demographic will directly understand whether they are attracted to this magazine or not and whether they may want to buy it or not.

As I mentioned earlier I decided that I would reduce the amount of conventions I would use so that the audiences immediate attention is drawn to the artist and the main cover line, meaning that if they are fans of the artist they may be intrigued to what the magazine discusses or if the target audience member isn't a fan they will be enticed into buying the magazine through the other cover lines used as well as the sky line that would offer something free that is exclusively available within the magazine so that the target demographic would feel they are receiving more contents for their money or receiving a bargain and so therefore would be more likely to but the magazine.

Additionally, I formed the layout of the magazine so that the artist would be the center of the page and again reinforce the immediate attention grabbing the cover star would do, whilst also deciding that the house style for the magazine would be very demanding colours such as blues and reds to connote to the passion and vibrancy of the magazine while still representing the aesthetic of the magazine as being edgy yet professional.

Drafting & Planning - Visual Thesaurus

 Here, I have researched into synonyms of words that relate to the genre of music I am interested in, through the use of a visual thesaurus. I am not certain what particular genre of music I want to do though I am leaning towards Indie pop and because of this I have decided to use words that generically apply to all genres of music that I could use for my magazine.

For the Indie pop genre I am interested in is associated with rebellious young people which is why I decided to create a visual thesaurus of the word 'wild' since many solo artists as well as bands within the indie pop genre are known for pushing the boundaries of society, which makes the genre so appealing the the target demographic and therefore having a word similar to wild could reflect the genre of music my magazine will have immediately to the audience and also give a more realistic look to the magazine as I will use a title that associates with my genre of music.

The word I found most useful that could potentially be used for my final magazine was the word 'chaotic' which connote to a sense of rebelliousness and over ruling and could also imply that the magazine has an excessive amount of contents making it feel slightly 'chaotic' and therefore would appeal to audiences as they will feel they are receiving more information/contents for their money. Also, what I find useful about this word is that it is very short and quite simple, which is common within many music magazine titles such as Q and Vibe. Having a shorter masthead for my magazine would be beneficial as the target audience would more likely recognize the title as it would be easier for them to remember/absorb. I also feel that this title captures the aesthetic of the magazine quite well and represents the urban, edgy yet professional ethos my indie pop magazine would have, though I will continue my research into the title of my magazine to ensure the title perfectly reflects the style of magazine I am hoping to achieve.

Target Audience - Billboard

Here, I have researched into the specific target audience that Billboard magazine has. From the conventions, house style, photography and layout I have recognised that the target demographic to Billboard magazine is for people above the age of 16, I have come to this conclusion as the billboard magazine not only discusses much more mature issues but includes artists that are enjoyed by those who are +16 years.
The use of photography here implies the target demographic as the artist is using her facial expressions to pull a slightly provocative and sultry look, which her fans will recognise as the artist has an image that 'oozes sexuality' meaning that the photography here emulates the artists style and image which will appeal to her fans as well as the target demographic who are interested in the artists music.
More so, the very bland colour scheme used here furthers this idea that the magazines target demographic is for 16 year olds or more as younger ages may enjoy magazines with much more bright and slightly gaudy colours to appeal them as the colour scheme of younger music magazines are to physically stand out and draw the younger audiences eye. However, magazines for older generations do not need bright and excessive house styles to attract audiences to the magazine as the colour scheme of white contrasting with Beyonce's golden brown hair is effective as the audience is drawn to Beyonce immediately as she is the only thing that the audience can see within the background.
Furthermore, the layout of the magazine is slightly basic and again not too extravagant to allow the main focus of the page to be on the cover star, to reinforce this idea that the front cover is based to keep the audiences focus sustained on Beyonce and therefore reveals that the target demographic of the music magazine is for 16+ years as the main focus is on the contents of the magazine while the magazine mentions very current and up-to-trend artists which younger audiences enjoy.

Remodelling task

Here is my final version of my remodelling task with the original billboard magazine next to it. From this I can see some flaws and some effective techniques used for my own magazine such as the use of a skyline I believe to be quite effective as it stands out against the other pieces of text, and since the

skyline offers a free poster to the reader they will be more inclined to purchase the magazine as they feel they are receiving for their money.

However, I have also notices that the colours of text  I used in certain areas was quite unclear and maybe not the most beneficial for my magazine such as when I included the cover line 'top 50 pop songs' the words 'and much much more!' can only be partially seen, which means that if I were to do this exercise again I would consider other fonts or colours that would not blend in with the photograph but still represents the ethos of the magazine.

Additionally, I have included an an analysed version of my front cover where I discuss whether or not the features, conventions, colour scheme, layout and photography have been successful in reiterating the ethos of the magazine such as the use of my layout being quite effective as I arranged the text to go around the cover stars face, meaning the audience will immediately be drawn to her and so therefore will be intrigued into why the front cover is of her. More so, I have highlighted (within red circle) that the use of the other cover lines are quite effective as they make the target demographic feel as if they are receiving new and 'exclusive' information they will not find anywhere else, meaning they are gaining content that they may find worth the price and so will buy the magazine.

Organisation

Here, I have chosen two of the photographs I took that I thought suited the style of magazine I am hoping to achieve. After completing more research, I have edited all three images into a black and white tone for two reasons. Firstly, to be consistent with the original front cover with Beyonce as the cover star and secondly to convey the  professional ethos of the magazine as the colour black and white has a very from connotation towards it, which is why I asked my 'cover star' to where a slightly my formal yet very chic style piece of clothing as the mise-en-scene of the imagery reflects the ethos of the billboard magazine since the ethos is very cool, laid back yet professional which I feel my 'cover star' conveys clearly.

I decided for my cover star to wear this type of clothing since my previous research (http://scarlettasmedia.blogspot.co.uk
/2015/12/research-into-similar-products.html) I learnt that the clothing an artist can wear can reflect the ethos of a magazine and so decided to use information for my re-model and hopefully my own magazine.

To add to this, I have decided that I will re arrange the size and placement of my 'cover star' by placing her more centre on of the image so that the centre focus of the front cover is on her, meaning the audiences direct focus is brought to her which will allow fans of the cover star to recognise her and so become curious to what the magazine says about the star.

After careful consideration, I have decided that I will use the second image for my magazine front cover as I feel the angles are quite clear and creates a very ambiguous yet cool tone which will reflect the magazine hopefully. From this I have learnt that not only is the photography an important factor to the final of the magazine but also the way you deliver that image to the audience, e.g how the artist is displayed through that photography which I feel I have emphasised by my exploration of editing.