Photos

This is the picture I am planning on using for my front cover. I believe it is suitable because its an appropriate camera shot and captures the key features of the artist. The camera angle is a mid shot but slightly close up. When planning this photo, I ensured the person I was using in the photo wore the appropriate clothing as well as taking up a correct pose. I used a set of headphones that I owned to create the link with a DJ and the dance music industry. I thought it would be a good idea for the artist to be pointing at the camera because my plan for the front cover is to be a connotation with the famous photo from American "your country needs you". The headline I am planning on using is, "DJ SKULL KANDY needs you". Therefore the picture is appropriate for what the front cover is going to be portraying. I plan to edit the photo before using it on my front cover but will discuss this in a later blog.

This is a second option that I was going to be using for my front cover image. I decided to experiment and try and take photos using different levels. I got the person I was taking the photo of to stand on top of an object and see what the photo came out like. I wanted to give of the impression that the artist was tall and therefore was going to use the headline, "DJ SKULLKANDY towering to new heights". I am still unsure about whether or not to use this photo as part of my front cover, I feel the one above is the stronger photo and therefore slightly edges it. However I plan to edit this photo, by changing the background to a club scene to see what it looks like with a differing back image.

This is a photo I took which I am not happy about. I will not be including this image into my final piece. The image is not suitable for a front cover of a magazine because you can not see the artists face. The idea of attracting consumers to buy your magazine is being able to show a cover image which would attract them. It is difficult when buying a magazine to make a purchase if you can not see who is on the front of it. The picture is also wrong because the image is disorienatated and the artist looks as if they are not ready for the photo. Having the hands in the pockets is often seen as a model pose but im my opinion it just looks lazy and therefore I would not use this image in my magazine.

Font Possibilities

In this blog I am going to be discussing all of the fonts i am considering for my magazine front cover and body text, all of the fonts I am going to be analysing are from http://www.dablog.com/. The first font I am considering is the one on the left which is known as blockface. This type is simple and therefore could be useful on my front cover when considering things such as sub headings and headline stories. The text in itself I feel represents the dance music genre. This is due to its technological feel and modern style. If i was to use the text, it would be of a different colour, such as green which would be more suitable. Possibly it could also potentially look better with a green glow coming around the outside of it but this is something I would have to edit myself.

This is the font I am considering for my main title on the front cover of the magazine. I like the idea of it because the design, again is suited to the dance industry. The font instantly stood out to me because it is named clubland which is obviously a type of music from within the dance music genre. It also looks as if it is made up from lots of light bulbs which links in nicely with my magazines name which is obviously named after the strobe light. I am also planning on using this font for my contents page.

This is a font I came across that I think will again be best suited for my front cover. When considering what article/picture to put onto my front page I did some research into dance music artists and had a look at thier logos/fonts etc used on magazine and CD covers. I noticed that artists such as tiesto, darren styles, all keep the same fonts on all of thier products and very rarely change them. Therefore the DJ who is going to be headlining my magazine is a fictional artist called " DJ SKULL KANDY", I will be using the above font for DJ SKULL KANDY all the way through my magazine when using his name.

All of my fonts above are as a result of a survey I conducted with consumers of the dance music magazine genre. These were the most popular and therefore I will be using them in my magazine. I conducted the survey so that I can be certain my magazine would appeal to my target audience, as I believe strongly a magazine should be based upon what the consumer wants to see to be successful in the market.

To ensure I was making the right decisions I compared my fonts with the fonts from mix-mag which obviously has a heavy influence on the production of my magazine. I was sure to not differ my fonts to vastly from mix-mags because it is a popular magazine within the dance industry and this is how I would like my magazine to be. Therefore all of the fonts above that have been analysed are popular within the target audience due to the survey and similar to mix mag which is already successful.

Flat Plan Designs

This is the front cover i have designed for my music magazine. I spent some time contemplating what name to choose for my magazine. I wanted it to be attractive and catchy with a slogan that will be remembered like all other magazines from this particular part of the market. I settled with the name "Strobe". I made this decision because the term strobe is often associated with a strobe light which can be found in most clubs. Therefore the link between the two is instantly noticeable and the title is a memorable one. Alongside my magazine title I wanted to incorporate a slogan which will be associated with the title. The slogan i have chosen is "the music magazine that's lighting up the nation", despite the fact it may be slightly cheesy I feel that it will work well in helping people remember the magazine. The title is the main part of the front cover as it is important when selling a magazine to make sure the title is easy to see and read from a distance, because when on the shop floor it is important that the magazine title stands out so that it can be spotted and bought by the consumer. Therefore as well as the title being large i am also thinking of the colours on the front page being luminous yellow or orange to help it stand out more. Also these colours link in with clubbing and the rave scene so are therefore relevant. I positioned what is in the issue above the title. I thought this would be suitable because when picking up the magazine and looking at what its called you can instantly see what is in the issue. I made sure when positioning elements onto my page that the pictures are the main element of the page because visual elements are more attractive to a consumer then lots of writing. I did however decide on having a relatively big headline to allow to the reader to establish what is in the issue.


This is my contents page that I designed. It is basic because it is a flat plan and not much detail has been put into it. Originally i wanted a normal contents page typical of any other dance music magazine. With simple listings of whats in the pages. But i feel a more suited contents page would be a more modern and designer one but still keeping with the dance music theme. I decided to have my contents page with lots of different shapes containing headlines and pictures. Due to the fact i have filled the contents page it gives the consumer the idea instantly that the magazine is full. The main articles have been placed into larger triangles with them getting progressively smaller in the order of preference. I have placed the word contents at the top of the page so that it is instantly noticeable that it is the contents page, as I believe it is an important part of any magazine and should be easy to find for the reader allowing them to establish what is going to be in the magazine. My original idea was to have it littered with pictures but for my main design I want to give it a more formal feel making sure the idea of the headlines being easily seen is kept.

With my double page spread i have decided to incorporate the idea from my contents page by keeping with the jagged shapes. A magazine is usually modelled around the same type of design and font, so this is what I intend to do in my double page spread. I also noticed when looking at other magazines from the dance genre that they all follow similar design throughout. Another thing I have noticed that they all include are quotations and lots of pictures to visually entise the reader.