Official magazine

Contents creation

This contents page is from Kerrang! magazine. I have attempted to imitate the design to follow guidelines and try to create a professional looking contents page.


Breaking down the contents:
>Inside the magazine
- Feedback
-News
-Live Reviews
-Features
-Album Reviews
-Gigs

These tags are on the right hand side of the magazine in a colomn. The headings have been distorted and placed inside a rectangle that has been filtered and had its transparency altered (using page plus tools) to make them look more appealing for the reader.

This Kerrang! contents page uses more than one way of displaying their contents, with their representation of images of the bands that are also to feature inside the magazine. These images are underlined by a caption of where they will be inside the magazine.

The colours of this contents page are reversed so that dark colours are placed on lighter colours to create a contrast to make the text stand out from the background. (The black text on the white background.

Beneath the contents column is a subscription section, which is inside a logo. This logo has been created by taking images of previous magazines and binding them together. Text presses over the logo in white, to create a contrast and make the text stand out.

The title 'contents' has been printed in a bold and sightly flattened font which has then been coloured in yellow, based on a black rectangle at the bottom right hand side of the page.

This is the result from conforming to this Kerrang! contents page. This contents page uses exatly the same layout.

The Kerrang! contents page did not use an image as a background (in which alot of other music magazines have done) instead they gave it a white background. Also this is a simple background, it really complements the design and makes it almost effortless to read. Never the less, i have chosen to use an image to replace the white background. I believe this 'grunge style' background helps bind the contents page together, it makes the page feel more full.

I have copied the idea of a subscription, so i created a logo using 'Fireworks' and positioned this in the top left of the magazine. As this is a metal themed magazine, i used this genre to influence the design. (see post #3 for design creation)

Beneath the 'contents' is a quote from 'The used', i have used used a quote from 'Metallica' which is from a quote site - www.allmetallica.com/info/quotes.php

Step To Fonts

Step by Step fonts

(All fonts created on
Urbanfont.com and Dafont.com)

> Fancy

- Distorted

Used Fonts
Abaddon

> Gothic
- Modern

Used Fonts

-Metal Macabre

These are the fonts chosen for the magazine.

The Name of the magazine (Kataclysm!) is in the font 'Abaddon'. Initially, the intention was to use the font Metal Macabre but on trying it on my cover it seemed a bit over the top and felt quite cluttersome when positioned on the front page.

Contents page

Uses the same font as the front cover to tie the magazine together. The body text is in Times New Roman. This is because Abaddon is too decorative to use for large areas of small text, and I needed something simpler to make the text easier to read and not looking too 'busy' or 'fussy'. In magazine analysis and research i found that the fonts of a magazine are pretty consistent throughout, so i decided to keep it simple and follow the guidelines of another magazine e.g. 'Kerrang!'.

Double page spread

The font of the double page spread is the same as that of the contents and front page. It has the added benefit of reflecting the image of the band, and so the genre of music. Although this is a metal magazine, there are different types of metal;

E.g. Power Metal - Hammerfall

Glam Metal - Motley Crue

Thrash Metal - Metallica

The band featured in the magazine are called 'Kamelot' and are a Power Metal band.

Power Metal -

Is a style of heavy metal music combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal.

Lyrical themes -

Power Metals lyrical themes, typicaly focus on fantasy and mythology (e.g. Symphony X, DragonLand, Ascension and Blind Guardian)

Camaraderie and hope (E.g. Stratovarius, Helloween, Hammerfall, Lost Horizon and Dragonforce)

Personal Struggles and emotions (E.g. Sonata Arctica, Primal Fear, Angra and X Japan)

War and Death (E.g. Manowar, Iced Earth and Firewind) or combinations of the listed themes.

There are a few other themes such as anti religion and politics; these are comparatively rare but not unheard of.

These themes would influence the style of font i use for 'Kamelot's' double page spread, however, in this instance, the font I used for the front cover does in fact represent the theme of their music and style of the band.

(See Second Post*)

The font chosen for the double page spread of 'Kamelot' is 'Abaddon' because i feel it catches more of a fantasy feel aswell as it having a take on the font of a popular role play fantasy game, Oblivion.

It was a struggle to choose between Abaddon and Dragon Master, both possess the feel of Fantasy. Dragon Master looks older, more ancient (almost scroll like, calligraphy) whereas, Abaddon is more sharp and distorted giving it a more modern feel and therefore the edge for a modern music magazine.

- - - - - - - - - (2nd Post) - - - - - - - -

Mojo is a popular magazine and is published by Bauer. The genre of this magazine is 'classic rock'. Mojo was first published in 1993, and has since grown and increased its circulation to over 100k. To attract a larger audience Mojo regularly includes a cover mount CD.

The title font of this magazine is plain, and in a shade of white, causing it to stand out over anything else placed on the front cover. 'The Beatles' is also printed in this font, which allows it to also stand out. Under the main white font, there is a smaller text coloured in a light grey/blue. This clashes with the background image and is therefore harder to read.

The image used is that of 'The Beatles', however this is not a whole picture. Infact there have been four images merged together to make it look like a 'true' picture. These images that were joined together are all medium shots, they would all have had to have been the same size shots in order to pull off this image of them all together. To find out why they have done this we must look at 'The Beatles' history. They started out in 1962 and stopped producing music in the 1970s. During this time they went through many changes, this picture reflects that by using images of 'The Beatles' at different times and then merging them together as one (each band member represents a different time).

This magazine was a 'special issue' and so came with a free CD of a tribute band to 'The Beatles' which is advertised in the top left corner of the magazine in a small silver circle (to help to increase the sales of this special issue magazine).

All the artists names on the cover are in white, with any other information in grey. This is so that the artist name stands out and grabs the attention of the audience as to who is featured in the magazine. The reason for why they are in the magazine is less important and so can appear in grey! However, this is not the case with Paul McCartney! The fact the magazine has managed to get an interview with him is what will help to sell the magazine as this is a rare oportunity, therefore, in his case 'Macca Speaks' is completely in white (not so for Lemmy)!

The cover gives a clear indication of what is in the magazine and makes it obvious by text, font and image who are the main feature of the particular issue.

Double page spread analysis

This is a double page spread which was created to give me a guideline for a layout. This double page spread was influenced by the 'Q' magazine.

The band 'Metallica' are backed by a grey wall, and so i had to change the left hand side of the double page spread to match it, to make it look more like a double page spread and not just two seperate pages. The text is backed onto a large auto rectangle, which has then had its colours saturated to give it the marble, wall effect. This complements the image by making it stand out.

I tried to keep this double page spread quite minimalist. As the only colours in the picture are different shades of black and white, they are the scheme of colour i have chosen to merge both image and text to form a double page spread. The text is done by a preset font, and in the shade black, based on the grey marble effect wall. By using only these colours it makes the page stand out, and easier to read. Compared to a coloured filled page with a greyscale image.

The font for the name of this page was created on *www.urbanfonts.com
I have chosen a font which is quite similar to the main text, the colour is also the same. The only difference really is the size. Beneath the title, in a slightly smaller font is a quote from one of their albums (a song called 'Nothing ever dies') this helps to tie the reader in. The quote 'Nothing ever dies' can be interpretted in many ways; it can refer to the band coming back from a long break or it can be interpretted as being, another great CD release, which in this case it is.

This image shows what genre of music the band plays by playing on the sub-cultural aspect. All four bandmembers are wearing leather jackets, shaded glasses and one with long hair. This instantly makes us think of rock or metal.

Questionnaire Analysis

Evaluation of questionnaire

1. Do you read music magazines?
If yes, what makes you buy them?

This question will help determine the key selling points of music magazines to the public. I will be able to use this information to, enhance my final version, to possibly capture a larger audience.

2. Are you male or female?
The purpose of this question is to seperate the audience, and get a variety of results, what
males look for in a music magazine, and same for females. I could use the answers given, to
add a fair mixture to the magazine. Attracting to a larger audience.

3. What is your favourite genre of music? [ C H O I C E S ]
The pure purpose of this question, was to find what genre of music i should base my magazine
on. If there is a large lean to a certain genre, then i may consider using that genre as it is
preffered by the audience.

4. What colours would you asossiate with the genre of music you have chosen in the previous
question?
These answers will influence the colour scheme of the magazine. I would like to capture the
genre of the music to the best ability, to create a magazine that works. Its colours and fonts
must work together.

5. What do you look for in a music magazine? (interviews, pictures...)
By the results returned i will know what i must include more of in my magazine. By trying to
include everything my audience wants, there will be a greater chance for the magazine to do
well in the media industry.

6. Which music magazine, is currently your favourite?
By analysing favourite magazines, i can get a greater idea of what i must use/include, or
improve upon.

7. Do you like freebies or other extras in your magazines?
This may be used to get an edge over other competitors, however, constant freebies will add
unnessesary cost, and so only used if needed.

8. What would you like more of in magazines?
Also, to attract a larger audience, by including features of other magazines.

Representation of social groups

Definition:

A Social group can be defined as characteristics shared by members of a group which includes interests and values.

I will be aiming the magazine towards the teenager and young adult 'peer group' (a group of roughly the same age, social interests and status) and/or the 'Clique' group (an informal group of people who share common interests which is commonly found in high schools) interested in Rock music.

The basis of my magazine will be influenced by the findings from my questionnaire and what my target audience want and expect from a good magazine, however i'm going to have to be prepared to make changes along the way and adapt the magazine to suit the audience. As an audience grows, so do their demands. As media is "controlled" by its audience, there is a need to stay upto date, to keep the current audience.

Representation:

Electric guitars, massive amps, leather jackets, are a few things which are a representation of the metal/rock genre. These are sub-cultural aspects which lay on the covers of music magazines. It's these aspects, which influence people without them knowing.

A metal stereo type is often regarded as those who headbang which is a popular term for a devoted fan of heavy metal music. It also refers Metalheads, affirm their membership in the subculture, or scene by attending metal concerts, buying albums and most recently, by contributing to metal websites and by growing their hair. The music iteself has helped to create this, and as its now a "lifestyle" - buying Cd's to suit it. The music industry, (and music magazines) are generating a lot of money from this "scene" they have created.

This magazine was created by me, in an attempt to follow cultural guidelines.

The image is fairly dull, black and gloomy which sets the mood (of metal). The band members are wearing dark jackets, and look serious. This gives an edge, a mood set, an idea of the genre of music. The title of the magazine "Explode" is in a two tone red, forcing it to stand out.
By using the same shade of red on other aspect of the magazine "Disturbed tour dates revealed" it forces them to clash, and fills the front cover (almost murges both aspects title/text together).

This gives the impression that the magazine has an exclusive and that it almost 'owns' or is at least 'responsible' for releasing these dates, forcing a sense of importance of the magazine to the reader.

Most magazines have smaller pictures of other bands on the front to attact attention, and to pull audiences to read on about perhaps one of their favourite bands. And so, i have included that on this magazine, all related to the same genre, as this is a rock/metal magazine "SOAD, BFMV and Slipknot".

Content - Pre

Cover analysis

The Masthead uses a bold font, and also uses contrasting colors to grab attention. The font is distorted, which gives across the idea of it being 'un - natural'. The distortion used is a cracked effect which gives the impression of breaking rules.

Colors used are blacks, whites, reds and yellows (for the main color scheme) This works well, and gives the idea of danger (police warning tape), working together with the 'cracked' font.

The image is a large medium shot of the band 'Avenged sevenfold'. They have used a large picture which takes up 80%of the page to grab attention, as people are naturally attracted to images over text.

The magazine name "Kerrang!" was originally intended to be onomatopoeic for the sound made when playing a power chord on the electric guitar. This also reflects the genre of this magazine, as power chords are (usually) used in the Metal and Rock genres.

The band name "Avenged sevenfold" is written in a large white font, backed onto the picture of the band, who are wearing dark clothes, and so this makes the band name stand out by the use of contrasting colors.

The price of the Kerrang! magazine is £2.20, Mojo is £4.50 and Q costs £3.80. Kerrang! has lowered its price over the years, to compete with other music magazines. However, this is not a problem for what they lose on the cover price, to what they gain in volume of circulation. Kerrang! is the largest selling rock/metal music magazine in the world.

The two yellow banners, one at the top of the magazine, and one on the bottom, are used for "latest news" and information that you will find within the magazine. The shade of yellow used is that of police tape - used at crimescenes. In the centre there is a brighter shade of yellow "The world's most dangerous band". This alone shows that the magazine is rock/metal based, as this band is featured in the magazine.

Down the right hand side of the magazine, there are the names of 3 other bands, to be featured within the magazine. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lost Prophets and Headbangers. The color of the font is a dark red, which on a black backround, doesnt really make it stand out. This ensures that these bandnames to not take over an importance from the featured band but still lets the reader know that they will have their slots in the magazine.

Online survey

Music genre poll results:(www.got quiz.com/poll/favourite_music_genre844)

Country 8%
Pop 8%
Bluegrass 0%
Rap 7%
Hip-hop 12%
New age 1%
Rock 37%
Christian 4%
Other 22%

Total votes 3799

303.92
303.92
265.93
455.88
37.99
1405.63
151.96
835.78

-------

These results were gathered from an online poll, that was posted a while ago. The votes gathered, indicate that a lot more people prefer rock over the other options, which proves that a rock magazine would be the best choice, when put together with the answers from my questionnaire.

.

.

Circulation:

Below is a list of eleven of the top titles.

The bold figure is the july-december 2008 sales figure.

The two figures in brackets are for january - june 2008 and to december 2007 respectively. Terrorizer only publishes its number annually which is why there's only a single bracketed figure.

Classic rock 70,188 (66,632 / 67,399)
Kerrang! 52,272 (60,294 / 76,937)

Metal hammer 50,272 (48,540 / 45,809)

Mixmag 30,159 (34,073 / 35,817)
Mojo 100,507 (37,073 / 35,817)
NME 48,459 (56,284 / 64,033)
Q 103,017 (113,174 / 131,330)

Rock sound 20,011 (22,527 / 23,021)
Terrorizer 12,784 (14,952)
Uncut 87,069 (86,925 / 91,028)
Word 34,280 (33,775 / 33,217)

The largest music magazine is the Q magazine, with the largest circulation.
The Genre of the Q magazine is Alternate rock, suggesting that a rock based magazine would be the best to create. however, as you can see from the number of rock magazines in circulation this means that there will be great competition. However, the number of magazines in circulation and their circulation figures show that there is a huge market out there.

Magazine research

Music magazine circulation:

Below is a list of eleven of the top titles. The bold figure is the July-December 2008 sales figure.
The two figures in brackets are for January - June 2008 and to December 2007 respectively. Terrorizer only publishes its numbers annually which is why there’s only a single bracketed figure.

Classic rock 70,188 (66,632 / 67,399)
Kerrang! 52,272 (60,294 / 76,937)
Metal hammer 50,269 (48,540 / 45,809)
Mixmag 30,159 (34,073 / 35,817)
Mojo 100,507 (106,367 / 106,218)
NME 48,459 (56,284 / 64,033)
Q 103,017 (113,174 / 131,330)
Rock Sound 20,011 (22,527 / 23,021)
Terrorizer 13,786 (14,952)
Uncut 87,069 (86,925 / 91,028)
Word 34,280 (33,775 / 33,217)

The largest music magazine is the Q magazine, with the largest circulation.Their genre of music is Alternative rock, suggesting that a rock magazine would be the best to create.

Fonts

Re-Post

Questionnaire

Music magazine
Questionnaire:

1. Do you read music magazines?[] yes [] no
If yes, what makes you buy them?


2. Are you male or female?[] male [] female


3. What is your favourite genre of music?[] Rock [] Metal [] Hip-hop [] R&B [] Pop [] Other
If other please state…

4. What colours would you associate with your genre of magazine?


5. What do you look for in a music magazine? (e.g. interviews with bands, the pictures…)


6. Which is your current favourite music magazine?


7. Do you like freebies or other extras in your magazines?[] yes [] no


8. What would you like more of in music magazines?[] Blogs [] news [] interviews [] releases [] posters [] other
If other please state..

Found Audience

Target audience :

Using the results from my questionnaire and the online poll. It is to prove that my audience are 16+ and prefer the rock genre.
From the results on the questionnaire 70% said that their favourite genre is rock. As rock is more popular, it would be a safer choice to base my magazine on. My questionnaire consisted of answers from students, family and friends which covers a large age range (15-54). From those who chose rock as their genre, 50% were within 16-30 giving me a set age range for my magazine.

Now that I know my target audience, it will be a lot easier to determine what goes into the magazine. According to the questionnaire, a lot of the people answered they would like more interviews in their music magazines, instantly giving me an opportunity to start a magazine with a strong aspect.

Seperating my audience:
The age range retrived from the questionnaire 16-30, shows that the majority will be students, high school/collage which is from the 'Clique' group. This makes it easier to relate to, as i am also at school.