Main Task Initial IdeasKate-Anna Smith

Aim and Purpose...

The purpose of this presentation is to present my 3 initial ideas for my main task in a professional way that displays clearly my plans, thoughts and ideas. The task that I am to complete is to design a brand new music magazine – I will be designing the front cover of the magazine, the contents page and a double-spread page from within the magazine itself.

This presentation is beneficial to me during this research and development stage as it allows me to present my potential ideas to an audience in order to gain feedback on what idea to develop further and do as my final piece.

By using a presentation as the chosen format for my ideas my work is also kept neat and professional looking.

The aim of this presentation is primarily to gain feedback from peers and other people that could potentially be my target audience for my magazine and take on board their thoughts and opinions of my ideas. From this I will be able to develop the idea that is most popular and make any necessary changes by eliminating anything that was disliked by the majority of my peers, and perhaps even add in something someone my have suggested in order to improve my work and make it the best it can be.

Idea One...

Genre/ Sub-genres: Metal – predominately genres of metal such as djent, deathcore, mathcore, progressive etc. that aren’t covered as much in existing magazines.

Age and Gender: 16-30 years old; the appearance is very masculine and will appeal more to a male audience, however the content will be appropriate for both men and women. This magazine will be mostly appealing people who buy al lot of music and go to lots of gigs/concerts as a lot of the content will refer to things like this.

House Style; Colour: There will be dark colours as this will work harmoniously with the content of the magazine – “greyscale” with ‘flashes’ of colour e.g. De-saturated reds, purples, greens etc. Fonts: Body of the text in the magazine will

be in a standard ‘easy-to-read font’, like Calibri, as it looks professional and tidy too; titles will be in more ‘distorted’, decorative fonts that compliment the music style. Language: “Adult” language used, rich vocabulary (appropriate for target audience). Layout: Simple and clear, nothing to confusing – it will look professional but still have a ‘heavy’ layout in terms that will go with the style of magazine.

Idea One...

Things to included in the content: Interviews with bands that are popular/ going on tour etc. – new and

upcoming band interviewsCD reviews – get readers involved and give their opinionColum for readers to write too, best letter/ email gets £50 music voucherFREE CD of new singles/ new bands with every copy of the magazine,

posters of featured artistsImages

These are the kind of of magazine covers that I would like for this idea. I like the overall layout and design here, and the use of colour.

Idea Two...

Genre/ Sub-genre: Classic Metal and Rock – “Old School” metal, classic rock, blues etc. and “80s music”

Age and Gender: An older audience, 35-40 years plus, though it will be more than suitable for younger people too; this magazine will be aimed at a predominately male audience, though the content will be appropriate for both men and women, I envisage that it won’t be very popular with females. The magazine will appeal mostly to those who have grew up with an interest of artists and bands that are mainly from the 70s/80s era.

House Style: Colour: Neutral and de-saturated, perhaps a little ‘greyscale’ – “clean” colours for a neat appearance. Fonts: Body of the text is going to be clear and easily read,

good examples are Calibri and Arial. Other text in the magazine such as the titles and inserts etc. will be in a bold, serif font that is clear and stands out well. Language: The magazine is aimed for a more mature audience and therefore the language used will be rich in vocabulary and include lexis specific to the music and genre. Layout: Because this magazine is going to be for an older audience I want the layout to be a bit more mature, and therefore the layout will be ‘clean’ and simplistic.

Idea Two...

Things to include in the content:Interviews with ‘old’ bands and artists – what there life is like today? Get

the audience involved so they can write in and ask questions etc.Guide to where such artists are playing (festivals/venues)Competition to win signed band merchandise and special editions music

and merchandiseVIP gig/ concert tickets giveaway

Images

I like the colours here as they are neutral and professional looking and I also like the positioning of things on the cover such as the image and text.

Here are some examples of possible layouts.

Idea Three...

Genre/ Sub-genre: Goth/ dark metal – music magazine that focuses on genres such as industrial, dark metal, gothic rock, symphonic metal etc.

Age and Gender: This magazine will be aimed for an audience of 18 years and above due to content. The magazine will be targeted at both genders and include content that both will find appealing and interesting. The magazine will only really appeal to people interested in ‘Gothic’ culture, fashion and music, or people that are interested in and in to all that ‘dark culture’.

House Style: Colour: The colours in this magazine will be very dark and include colours such as black, purple, greys etc. Fonts: For this magazine I think the most suited fonts

would be fonts such as Times New Roman for the body of the text, but then go with ‘old century’ roman and calligraphic fonts for the titles. Language: Rich in vocabulary with genre specific lexis relevant to the music. Layout: The layout will be ‘dark’ but still remain professional looking – it will be neat but unusual.

Idea Three...

Things to include in the content:Interviews with artists – ‘mini biographies’ about bands and artists, new

album releases and upcoming toursTop new release CDs to buy with reviews and ratingsFREE sample CD with every copy of the magazineCompetitions to win things such as gig/ concert tickets, merchandise etc.Because this genre heavily depends upon the fashion and culture side that

goes along with the music too, there will be artists modelling clothing and makeup etc. and there will be interviews about such as “How to get their look”

Images

I like the slight off centring positioning of this image and the focus on the face.

I love the use of the dark colours in these two covers and think it works really well – I also like the positioning and poses in the images and the text around them.

Peer Feedback...

Final Decision...