Evaluation

Contents Page

This is my final contents page, it's very simple and easy to read, like the examples I found.

Contents Page Research

I found contents pages from various music magazines and found that there was at least one large image which took up the main focus of the page. I want to recreate this on my own contents page using a strong image (similar to the technique i used on the front cover) to have as my focal point. I also want to inclue a 'band index' sort of thing.

Final Double Page Spread

This is my final double page spread. I also added a photo caption, quoting from the article.

Double Page Spread

This is the first page completed of my double page spread. I think it looks good although I need to add some more text to the bottom right hand corner. The second page will contain a large photograph of the band, im still deciding which image to use!

Interview

Here is my interview with Abrogations Crown (Mark Smith, Alex Taylor, Harry Ball and Ross Scarth). I asked them to decide together the band that they would most recommend (and why) beginning with each letter of the alphabet.
Here's their response:

A-After The Burial -because of the awesome technical breakdowns
B-Brand New -diversity, each album is completely different to the other
C-Chase & Status -'ruthless' synths
D-Despised Icon -living proof that dual vocals work
E-Emmure -they smoke copious amounts of weed
F-For The Fallen Dreams -great melodic parts
G-Girls Aloud -because 4 out of the 5 are ridiculously fit
H-Have Heart -the lyrical content
I-Impending Doom -'cos they're fat goths'
J-Justin Timberlake -he's unbeliveably gay
K-Kins Of Leon -they're first album was amazing, they went downhill from there though
L-Lil' Wayne -mad tattoos
M-Marilyn Manson -we heard he can suck his own penis, what a guy.
N-Nine Inch Nails -their live set is too good for words!
O-Obscura -TECH!
P-Parkway Drive -aussies! they wear flipflops on stage
Q-Queen -MAMA MIA!
R-Red Shore -
S-Stick To Your Guns -kings of the gangshout
T-The Black Dahlia Murder -best band ever, period.
U-Upon A Burning Body -the drummer has fuckin' huge ear plugs!
V-Viatrophy -awesome drummer
W-Whitechapel -sweet vocal tone
X-XreconX -'too many breakdowns!'
Y-Your Demise -agressive live shows
Z-Zappa -so many drugs...

My Feature

I want my double page spread to be more than just an interview with the band, I had a look at features in the magazines I have researched and found that many had come up with interesting and different ways to 'interview' a band. I had the idea of asking the band about their influences and what music they would recommend to readers. To give a variety of music I plan to ask them their favourite bands who's names begin with each letter of the alphabet.

Double Page Spread Research

Many magazines include a large photograph which usually takes up at least a whole page on the double page spread. I want to include a large photo in my own page spread and have my interview on the opposite page. These pages also have a the same theme running through both pages, such as text, colour or image. I plan to have the same background on each of my pages to keep it 'flowing' well.

Front Cover

This is my first draft for my front page, I will probably make small ajustments as I complete my other pages.

Photoshoot

My best images from the shoot:

Photoshoot Ideas

Many of the bands which will featue in my magazine have had photoshoots in interesting and unusual places, with sometimes eerie settings and backgrounds. I want to create a certain mood within the photograph on my front cover.









I plan to take inspiration from band photographers such as Marianne Harris and make my photoshoot as original and as different as possible.

Breed

With Breed chosen as my title, i started to look at the style of font i wanted. Magazines such as Rolling Stone and Kerrang! have very recognisable styles of text but also quite decorative.

For my magazine I want to stick with the clean simplistic style of things. My title will probably be in a sans serif font so that it is clear and perceptible. Here are my initial ideas for the font of my title:

Possible Titles

A lot of music magazines have simple, short names; Kerrang!, Q, Mojo, NME, Rock Sound. I want my magazine cover to be quite simple and tidy like the covers of I-D and Dazed & Confused magazines. Dazed & Confused is named after a Led Zeppelin song and i also want the title of my magazine to be taken from a song by, what I feel is, an influential artist, taking into account the short simple titles I have looked at.

Possible names for my magazine:
Animal (Pearl Jam)
Breed (Nirvana)
High Wire (The Rolling Stones)
Keep Talking (Pink Floyd)

I think my favourite title is 'Breed' as it's catchy, simple and would fit well at the top of my magazine cover.

Possible Features

I chose these artists/bands as possible features in my magazine, most of which get little or no media coverage by most music magazines. Although there are clear differences in specific genre, the bands all play 'alternative' music.

Plan

I want my front cover to be really simplistic, with as little text as possible so that the image is the main focus, to reflect the research I did into magazines like i-D and Dazed & Confused. As a photography student I feel I can create an image strong enough to be the main focal point as to attract the reader. I made a quick plan on photoshop to give myself an idea of my layout and for something to be working from.

My magazine will be an alternative music magazine as I feel there is quite a large gap in the industry. It will not be a typical NME (indie) type magazine, I will include artists such as Brand New, Placebo, Rise Against, Alexisonfire, City and Colour/Dallas Green, Luke Pickett and other bands who i feel have little or no coverage by the media at the moment.

Research

After deciding that my coursework would be based on Print I did some research into the type of magazine I wanted to produce;

Preliminary Task

This is my preliminary task for print. After completing the cover successfully and being given the options of Print, Radio or Film, I knew I wanted to stick with print for my coursework. I chose my model for my prelim task because of her confidence and the colours in her clothes, I used these colours as my main titles as i felt they stood out against the plain background. When I start my coursework I plan to make a few changes, the model and the fonts etc. will be chosen more specifically to the type of magazine i want to create.
Before I complete my cover, contents page and double page spread I plan to find examples of current magazines to take inspiration and idea's for visually appealing layouts. I also want to look at the photography side of things so that I can chose the correct settings for my own photoshoot. When completed, I plan to ask classmates to complete a short questionnaire so that I can make small changes to my magazine according to their constructive criticism and shared opinions.