Target Audience: Rocksound.

I found a Blog on the internet with information about the current Rocksound audience.

The average reader's are aged 15-24, which is quite young, and that 72% of the audience are men. Similar to the Kerrang! magazine target audience, Rocksound's audience will use their magazine as a source of new fashion and trends more than any other source on the market. Staying connected is a very important part of their lives, they value being constantly updated, and the ways readers connect with Rock Sound is Print, Web and Social Networking. 82% of their audience use at least two of these methods to stay connected with their Rock Idols, and in total they spend roughly £114 million a year on music and gig tickets. I have also found that there is an online edition of Rocksound and opportunities online for the readers to share Rocksound articles to social networking websites such as facebook and twitter.

This shows me that I will need to target some of my headlines on my final piece more towards men, and I will have to include elements of social media within my magazine in order to keep the interest of my target audience.

Drafting & Planning: Band Identity

Organisation:Tracker Update.

I have got good marks for similar products and drafting, but I need to improve on the Target Audience section. I will do this by studying the age and gender of people who buy Rocksound, by researching statistics from the internet.

In addition to this, I will need to create more organisation posts. I will do this by creating a publication plan for my magazine, allowing me to know exactly what needs to be put into my magazine when I begin creating it.

Drafting & Planning: Stone Cold fonts.

I researched whether Stone Cold Magazine and it does not. 'Stone Cold Magic' exists, but it is not a rock magazine, in fact it is not a music magazine at all. It is an online magazine about magic tricks, so I can use 'Stone Cold Magazine' for my magazine masthead.

http://www.fontspace.com/

1 is best, 6 is worst:

1. I think 'Nexa Rust' is the best font to use for my magazine because it is a very clear font. It is bold and would be able to be spotted in the Left Third very easily. It will be easy to change into different colours, which allows me to be creative with my house style.

2. 'Scribble Box' is my next favorite font because it is also clear and bold, and would be able to be an effective masthead. The reason why i will not use it on my magazine cover is because it is partly see-through, so i would be restricted with using different house styles because colours would be visible through the masthead.

3. I think 'My Girl Is Retro' is my next favorite font. It is attractive and would grab attention in the left third but it would be more suited for a 70's/80's music magazine rather than a modern rock magazine.

4. I have chosen 'Urban Jungle' font to be the nest worse font because it would be more suitable for a hip-hop magazine, plus the cut outs of the city make it too unclear to be an effective masthead.

5. I think 'Hard Rocks' is the next worse font. Although it fits in with the urban, slightly punk ethos of my magazine, it is too scratchy and unclear to be an appealing masthead for my magazine.

6. I have chosen the 'True Lies' font as the worst because it inappropriate for a music magazine. It appears to be have been created with a paintbrush, which is irrelevant for a rock magazine. Although on its own it is an attractive font, it is too thin to be an eye-catching masthead because you would not be able to see it on the Left Third on a shelf.

Organisation: Photoshoot for the final piece.

Date: 11th December

Location: 
Drama studio in school against a plain black wall.

Alternative Location: Cannon Hill park in the band stand. I want to sue this because it create a trippy effect when it is put into black and white.

Effects if I use Cannon Hill- Front Cover: I will attempt a focus pull between me and the forest in the background. I will be the cover star, so the image of me needs to be clear. I will blur out the background which shows the forest to bring more attention to me. As the camera i use produces the best quality picture when the camera's flash is on, i will lower the lighting for the cover photo, as i do not want ti to be particularly bright. This is because darker colours conform more to the ideology of magazines similar to Rocksound.

Effects in Drama Studio-Front Cover: No effects will be needed as the walls in the studio are black.

Effects on contents page: I will get my peers to throw their hands in the air like they are at the concert, then i will drain the picture of colour so it is black and white.

I do not plan to use any effects on my secondary images or additional images in my magazine.

Costume: A black dress and black heels. This conforms to the ideology of magazines similar to Rocksound, and also allows me to be creative with house style colours, as most colours are easy to see over black. I will wear the same costume throughout.

Make-up: Large and dramatic black eyeliner. Red lipstick.

Members: Although the band I have created has 3 members, I will be the only one in the photos because I am portraying the lead singer.

How: I would prefer to have my friends help with the main areas of my photoshoot, but if need be I can do some parts on my own because my digital camera has a timer option.

Drafting & Planning: Page Plus

I have practiced creating a cover, contents page, and double page spread on Page Plus. I feel it is important to familiarise myself with this software so i can make the best quality project that i can when i make a  cover, contents page, and double page spread with my own pictures.

I am happy with my practice on page plus because it is holistic, and has an intimate consistency. This is because I used the same quote on two pages, the same artist throughout, and similar fonts throughout.

Drafting & Planning: Influences.

Although I have researched magazines such as Kerrang! and Metal Hammer, my main influence will be Rocksound magazine. This is because I find Kerrang!'s carnivalesque style a little too immature for my target audience.

I am aiming for my magazine to look like this. 

My survey results from surveymonkey has given me the information that my target audience believes the house style of a rock magazine should be consistently red. 

My research about the demographic and content of Rocksound has given me the information that my front cover should have a pug on it informing the readers that my magazine is offering a free CD.

I have chose to begin to base my final cover from this magazine because my cover will also feature the front-woman on her own in the main image.

This magazine cover is very effective because it incorporates symbiosis and pugs, as well as many of the codes and conventions of modern rock music magazines such as a bar code and masthead.

Although I was originally planning to do all of photography inside, this magazine has swayed me to attempt some outdoor photos, then blur the background so not to take the attention away from the cover star.

Target Audience: Who is Rocksound's demographic?

For those who like their music loud, extreme and non-conformist. Rock Sound magazine is the essential music mag for anyone who like to thrash a guitar and look epic doing so. 

This title is aimed at rock music enthusiasts. It covers news, reviews,features,interviews and gigs for current and past rock music.

Rocksound aims to cover 'music with attitude'. It is a fresh and exciting rock magazine, especially for teenagers. It is aimed at the older end of young people (16-24) rather than the more immature end of young people (12-15). This is evident by the mature layout.

Covering Punk, Metal, Hardcore, Alt and Rock music, Rock Sound is packed with interviews with emerging and established musicians and features on up-and-coming and already famous bands. This is a properly authentic magazine – no sell-outs here – that brings you the very best of guitar-based music. Inside are reviews of the latest releases and classic re-issues, and details of gigs and festivals all over the country, and there is often a sample CD given with each issue which helps attract an audience.

Rocksound has 12 issues produced per year (monthly) magazine. The usual price is 3.99.

Along with the feedback from my surveymonkey questionnaire, this research was very informative because I want to incorporate similar things to the content of Rocksound into my magazine. I must feature rebellious, non-conformist appearing artists, and the cover lines must be exciting and interesting, but not as carnivalesque or 'in your face' as Kerrang magazine.


http://www.newsstand.co.uk/195-Rock-Music-Magazines/9267-Subscribe-to-ROCK-SOUND-Magazine-Subscription.aspx

Blog Tracker Update 12 November 2014

I am really pleased with this tracker because it reassures me that I am making large amounts of progress.
Although I have no red sections left, I still need to do more posts about organisation. Along with this, I know that I need to do more research about a target audience in order to get good marks.

Organisation: Evaluation of Remake, Remodel Task.

The Remake, Remodel task that we have been doing for homework and in class has helped me to learn about a consistent cover page, contents page, and double page spread.

It has helped me to discover the ways I can make a holistic and coherent layout, while keeping a consistent and attractive house style. I have done this by staying consistent with the colours and fonts within the house style. It has also helped me to learn about photography, and the distances from the camera that the cover star should be because I had to select the correct photo and edit it in the correct way in order for it to conform to the codes and conventions of music magazines.

The task will assist me to create my covers in the future because I can use the drafts of the cover, contents and double page spread as a basic layout for my final piece.

Organisation: Front Cover Layout.

I will use the Remake Remodel task that I have done recently to help me with layout in the future.

I have learned to make my price and dateline less prominent on my cover.

Here are some photos that I thought were not effective enough to use on my magazine cover:

 

I didn't want to use the first one because my finger are not placed in a claw-like position, so there wasn't enough aggression in the photo.
The second photo is okay but there is too much space at the top, and you can see my radiator in it. My cover would have looked very unprofessional if my radiator could be seen, especially on a Rock-Genre magazine.
As I planned a Halloween edition of Rocksound, I wanted to use costume props. However, in the third image, I found that using more than one took too space up, and constricted my body positioning. Also, I am smiling in this last photo which would not go with the ethos of Rocksound magazine, as their cover stars usually look brooding or rowdy.

Looking back on the photoshoot I did for the Remake Remodel Task, I will try to find a plain white wall so that I can manipulate my colour scheme more. Having a purple wall restricted me to using red as you couldn't see many other colours very clearly. I will also take slightly less zoomed in pictures to allow for a more professional layout concerning secondary images and secondary stories and coverlines.

Drafting & Planning: Draft of contents page and double page spread.

Target Audience: Survey Monkey

I placed this question in the survey so that I know what age group of people would be answering. The majority of people were 12-16, meaning that the responses below will help me target a younger audience. 

I posted this question because 'CLASH' was already taken. I thought it would be a good idea to get magazine names from the audience that would be buying the magazine.

These responses will help me to create my contents page and double page spread in the future.

The most common answer is red or black. I will use these colours in my house style providing they compliment the main image.

This response is helpful as i want to make my magazine realistic. The most common answe is £1-2, but the majority of music magazines cost more than this. To ensure my magazine is realistic, I will use the next most popular results (£3+) to add a price to my magazine cover,

The Rock sound issue that I have posted has been complemented for its clear fonts. The potential audience are fond of the symbiosis used by placing news about other artists on the inside because it gives them an idea of what else the magazine has to offer.One response says the colour is memorable. On my cover I will test unusual colour schemes so that i can achieve this effect.

I have found making a survey helpful because it gives me a better idea of what content to put unto my magazine, and which colours to use, It has also given me some ideas about a new title for my magazine

Organisation: Blog Tracker Update

Since the last tracker review, I have added more research into similar products. My focus this time is target audience. I can complete this by analyzing my Survey Monkey results.

Drafting & Planning: Remake, Remodel Task feedback

My peer assessor told me to make my dateline less obvious. For personal improvement, I have chose to take away the web address as there is already one in the masthead. Here is the improved project:

In the future I will remember to only use a we address near the barcode if there is not already one on the cover.

Drafting & Planning: Remake, Remodel Task

This is my magazine. I have used original photography. This photo along with some others was taken in the October holidays so I chose to do a Halloween themed issue of the magazine.

I wanted to use a plain background so that it would look like the majority of Rocksound covers, so I took down my posters in my room so I could use a plain wall, as this has proved to be more effective in most magazine covers.

In publisher I began to add more codes and conventions of my magazine. I added a secondary image of Marilyn Manson. I have have used a puff in the skyline, and pugs in the form of free posters at the bottom. I have made sure my magazine has a date line price and bar code on it.

The main cover line 'Halloween Special' is in larger text to grab a readers attention. The house style is red throughout because it compliments the devil horns prop that I have used in my photo. I kept the masthead black so that the red wouldn't be over bearing.