Moving onto the Preliminary Task...

So, what does this mean?

These results are very interesting and useful to me. Now, (knowing what consumers like) I can plan what to put in my magazine. Here are just a few more ideas that i've been thinking about. 

• Front cover - Most people aren't too bothered about the text and colours of the magazine so, on my front cover, I am thinking... Simple background, bold text with colours that are simple but effective, Iconic figure(s) on the front, Articles shown, Interviews shown,  maybe something free (a CD perhaps). 
• Articles - Boy's especially are interested in the articles a magazine includes. As Rolling Stone do many articles which vary from music to politics, I think i'll do a mixture. 
• My OWN article - my time theme, Rolling Stone Through the Ages :) 
• Interview - Girls are especially interested in interviews and infamous bands have shown to be an interest to everybody. I think I'll go out and find an amateur band in Jersey to interview!
• Advertisement - Both boys and girls think photography is an important tool to attract people into buying a magazine. I will make sure all the photography I take is interesting and creative. 
• I will look closely into the style's of Rolling Stone and Q magazine for ideas and inspiration as they are the favorite magazines of my peers. 

Results

I received all questionnaires back and tallied up the results which go as follows...

Girls

1. Most girls prefer Acoustic, Indie and Funk.

2. Most girls buy a music magazine Once a month.

3. Most girls buy Gossip and Fashion based magazines.

4. Most girls are attracted by the Photography on the cover.

5. Most girls are interested in Interviews, Photography and Infamous bands.

6. Most girls prefer Q magazine. 

Boys

1. Most guys prefer Rock. 

2. Most guys buy a music magazine Once a week.

3. Most guys buy mechanic based magazines.

4. Most guys are attracted to the Articles, Interviews and Free stuff. 

5. Most guys are interested in Photography, Old bands and Infamous bands.

6. Most guys prefer Rolling Stone magazine.

Questionnaire

To create a successfull magazine, finding out the consumer's facts and opinions beforehand is very vital! This is why I have created this questionnaire. It will give me an idea of what my magazine cover should look in order to attract buyers and will help me decide what to include inside my magazine. I have surveyed 25 boys and 25 girls from college in order to obtain a fair, variety of results from my target audience.

Questions

1. What type of music are you in too? (tick the genres you like)

Rock                 Jazz

Reggae             Classical

Ska                   Acoustic 

Indie                Funk

Other

2. How often do you buy a music magazine (tick the most likely answer)

Once a week

Once a fortnight

Once a month

Once a year

3. Which type of magazine would you buy?

Music              Mechanics

Fashion          Science based

Gossip            Other

4. What makes you pick up a magazine? (you may tick more than one)

The magazine's logo 

The photography on the cover

Celebrities 

Free stuff offered

The articles it shows

The colours and text

5. What are you more interested in... (you may tick more than one)

New band updates           Interviews

Old band facts                 Photography

New songs                       Worldly updates

Infamous artists              Gossip

6. What is your favorite music magazine?

..................................

Thanks for your time :)

Note to self

next lesson, make a questionnaire! ask people what magazines they read. Why they like them in particular. What would draw them in the most (interviews, photos, gossip, free things etc)  

What i've learnt

Below is my second attempt at designing a magazine cover. As you can see, I edited it quite a lot though left the initial figure in the same place. From researching the general features of a magazine cover, I included a few things...

• A bar code 
• The actual Rolling Stone logo
• A simple background
• A teaser
• Continuous colours and fonts
• An ocelot... as you do. 

All of these things make my magazine more recognisable. If I had more time to do a third attempt, I'd probably...

• Include more articles on the cover
• Enlarge the main figure, making the cover more occupied 
• Include the price on my cover (which I'd forgotten) 
  

My second attempt

I made my first magazine cover through photoshop with (to be honest) not a great deal of thought. I learnt the basics of the system and inserted things like a photograph, the 'rolling stone' logo, text etc. I later realised that this wasn't enough to be recognised as a magazine cover. I needed to research...

My first attempt

Another monochrome photograph 

The contrast between colours

(red, white and grey)

cause the text to stand out

Acoustic music may attract all ages

Other articles included

Unlike the other covers, the main figure isn't looking into the camera

anniversary special

'Q' logo stands out a lot being red 

less focus on text, more on cover girl

many interviews with well known artists

perhaps aimed at older readers

Elaborate texts which go together

Bleak background 

Main article is on the cover figure

Other articles shown at the bottom of the magazine

'NME' logo is very clear and stands out

new bands = young readers

                                                            Mainly monochrome

Iconic figures which cover the 'MOJO' logo

Also features other articles

2008 edition featuring older bands

aiming towards older generation?

Looking into the Market

Today, I'm going to look into other

competitors by comparing the differences

between covers.

My Idea

It's early days but here's my first idea

I love the way Rolling Stone covers such a wide variety of things from 

music to politics. 

From researching on the internet I have discovered...

• Rolling Stone was founded in 1967
• Their main focus was political in the early 70's
• By the 90's they had begun changing their image to attract the youth.

From these small details, I have been thinking about a 

'time' theme, showing Rolling Stone through the ages.

Calendar

Month 1 - Begin researching magazines
Month 2 - Begin and Finish Preliminary Task
Month 3 - Research and gain idea of theme, layout and articles for your magazine
Month 4 - Begin your first double page spread and then second draft
Month 5 - Begin your Contents page and then second draft
This is only a preview of what I will be doing for the next six months. After taking the task into account, I have put basic dates into a calendar of which I hope to follow. The writing in blue are rough reminders of what I will have to do whereas the writing in green are check lists of what these things will have to include. 

Finding my Feet

•INCLUDE STATISTICS ON MAGAZINE CONSUMPTION

•COMMENT ON TARGET AUDIENCES OF MAGAZINES

•COLLECT EXAMPLES OF FRONT COVER DESIGNS, EXPLORE THE MARKETPLACE

•ANALYSE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE MAGAZINE COVERS.

•ORGANISE A QUESTIONNAIRE, ASKING WHAT MAGAZINES PEOPLE READ, AND WHY.

•WHAT ELEMENTS MAKE UP MAGAZINE DESIGN, FOR EXAMPLE A PRICE AND A BAR CODE ARE NEEDED.

Magazine cover

After changing my mind several

times this past week, 

I have decided to design a music magazine. 

I understand that many people

will have the same ideas as me,

so

I'm going to try my best

to create different, original ideas.