LIIAR Analysis of the Brief

My front cover will contain various elements such as a masthead, a main image (medium close up), a house style of three colours, thumbnail images, anchorage, a price and barcode, teasers and a link between my feature story and the main image.

The masthead for my magazine will stand out and be in a dark blue colour. My intention is to call my magazine ‘MoDown’ which is a play on two things, the well-known soul record label ‘Motown’ and also of the word ‘Mod’ which was a social group of people found in the 60’s and this movement influences bands still today. They were known for having a good dress sense and also a good music taste which is why it is still relevant to my target audience.

The main image on my magazine front cover will be of a new up and coming band, my initial thought is it will be a very professional looking picture, with the band stood in a V shape.  The band will be looking directly at the camera; this is a very common convention in music magazines such as NME & Q.

The magazine will have minimal thumbnails but the image will have a caption alongside it. This will be to illustrate what the second feature article is. There will also be band names in the left 3^rd of my magazine. This will give my magazine shelf appeal as when they are stacked on a shelf, the bands featured in the magazine will still be on display. People of my target audience are more likely to pick it up.

I will then put my main headline on the front, which will act as anchorage for my main image. The price, barcode and date will all be added also. This will make it look more professional and realistic.

My magazine will be only a small part of the business I wish it to represent. It will be much like ‘Q’ and ‘NME’ and have a music channel and also a website which is fundamental as it can keep the target audience up to date with everything that is going on as it happens, not just once a week. It can also be used to promote the magazine.

The message I hope my magazine to portray of my target audience and the magazine itself is one of very quirky and individual image. It will be aimed at the people who think that they’re at the height of cool.

My contents page will be set out like a festival poster, this links in well with the obvious music theme. It will still match the house style however, keeping in with the Red white and blue theme, like the target. The contents page will have the impression of looking like a pull-out poster. My initial idea is that the magazine contents will not actually be in numerical order, it will have the big feature articles at the top with page numbers next to them, and then gradually the text will get smaller as the articles are less important. This is exactly like what is used on the Reading and Leeds festival posters.

Finally my double page spread feature article will be of a made up band. It will feature a picture of the band on one page and then have a column on the right where facts about the band will be shown. It will be boxed in and away from the main article. The article itself will be set out in a question and answer format. It is very common in the NME magazine. It will show the question the interviewer asked as well as the bands answer, and just like NME it will highlight which member of the band replied.

The target audience will be 16-25 year olds or people who regularly attend gigs etc. As students are the core of my target audience the magazine will have a cheap cover price. Saying this however, it will be written in a way which would appeal to class A, B or C1.

The whole point of this scene is not to be the same as everyone else. People who follow these kinds of trends see themselves as niche and individual. Therefore it is hard to stereotype when making this magazine. It will represent an image of positivity to both the bands that feature and the people who read it.

Music Magazine Brief

Main task: the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine (if done as a group task, each member of the group to produce an individual edition of the magazine, following the same house style).

Analysis of College Magazine

My college magazine is conventional for a number of reasons. As it is a magazine that is not professionally made, by being conventional it would help it appear more professional whereas if it was unconventional, without the already popular readership, it being unconventional would just put people off. The anchorage used on the front, relate to articles in the contents and the headlines of the articles. They sit underneath the images to which are highlights of the thumbnail images. The banner headline acts as anchorage to the main image on the front cover. The cover conveys a positive brand image of the college which shows a student working. All of the stories in the magazine will be exclusive to the college so no real emphasis will be placed on any particular story. The house style featured is consistent of the two main colours of the college, purple and white. This is because the brand identity of the college, which is already recognisable, is used on the front of the magazine.

The product would be distributed by the college.  It would be a direct representation of the college’s students however will be just as much about the college as it would about the students. It will be a point of contact for the notices of the college to the students. The ideology will be that of the college. It will be hoping to promote a fun, hardworking image which will be done by highlighting the achievements made by students within the college.

The target audience for the magazine is the students of the college. It will be aimed at them as it applies to them directly. It will be informative as much as it will be entertaining. It is designed especially for the college students but also by the college students. It will be written in an educated manner as the students reading it will obviously be of a decent standard of education. Despite all the students being of different backgrounds, their expectations of themselves will mean that they will be striving for the best education possible and for jobs that put them in the C1 category as a minimum. As the magazine is written by their peers then it can be expected that all value life styles will be covered without targeting a specific area. The magazine will not be stereotypical of students but will be a very realistic in the ways it tries to target the audience. It will be written in a manner which will not be patronising towards them but also be written in a way to which they can directly relate.

College Magazine Contents Mock Up

College Magazine Cover