Proposal

Describe your idea for the brief:

The brief of this task was to create a new music magazine which features a front cover, contents page and double page spread. Throughout my research and planning, I have gathered a range of ideas from inspirational sources to

allow me to create a final product that I believe will be unique and successful.

I propose to create a rock magazine called “DEFUSED,” with the slogan “defusing the most explosive rock music of the month.” It will have its own

house style that runs throughout all pages with a predominant black, white, yellow and red colour scheme. The front page will be bold and edgy so that it

stands out as a unique product and will immediately draw people’s attention. It will differ to other rock magazines as it will have a more grunge/indie

approach rather than the heavy metal intensity provided by magazines such as KERRANG! The text on every page will frame my images so it is easy and

enjoyable to read.

Genre/ sub genre: list similar texts which have inspired your thoughts

The genre of my magazine will be rock which includes the sub-genres of indie-rock and alternative rock. Whilst deciding on this genre I researched other rock magazines for instance, RockSound focuses on metal-core and

emo music, Kerrang on mainstream heavy metal and NME on alternative/indie. I liked the idea that NME had a more relaxed approach to rock however thought it was too sophisticated and didn’t really stand out.

Therefore within my own magazine, I propose to find a balance between indie rock and mainstream rock so that it isn’t as subtle as NME but also isn’t as

demanding and extreme as KERRANG. For instance, instead of having images of a man screaming angrily (KERRANG) or images of a casual well-dressed man relaxing, I will combine the two to find a midpoint between the genres and bring them together to create a new and innovative magazine.

Target audience: gender/ age/ characteristics/ behaviour

My magazine will be aimed at a target audience of 16 – 24 year olds. 46.43% of my audience will be male and 54.57% will be female. This means that my magazine will slightly be more appealing to females due to the use of males

models however I will try to keep it as gender neutral as possible. I will do this by including a wide range of bands and artists from many fan bases, using a colour scheme associated to the genre and not gender and base my double page spread on a story that will appeal to the interests of all. The majority of my audience are students and are unemployed or only have part time jobs therefore the price will be £2.99. This is reasonable as the magazine is only

monthly. I will also include discounted prices on the contents page for people who wish to subscribe to the magazine. I will include links to social media

sites such as twitter, Instagram and snapchat so that my magazine is more interactive. The audience enjoys comedy, drama and horror which I will try and include into my stories and news. The text and language I use will be

relaxed and informative with puns and humour the older audience will understand. I will also use direct address so that the audience feel more

involved with the magazine. The model I have chosen will reflect the

appearance and likes of the target audience for instance the clothing will be include, skinny jeans, converse, tattoos and dark colours and he will fit into

the same age range with similar hobbies and celebrity appeal.Major conventions I will use

Front Cover will include:

-Masthead overlapped by Dominant Image- Main sell line supporting main image- Sub sell lines and Sub images framing the dominant- Skyline introduce key story- Bottom banner list of artists- Puff including free posters

Contents Page will include:

-Bold, capitalised masthead “DEFUSED CONTENTS”-Dominant and sub images- Limited colour scheme – simple- Tactile language choices in framed text- Subscription box- Editors notes with image

Double Page Spread:

One side of my double page spread will be text led and the other side will be image and headline led. This will include-Headline unique font to page name of the band/artist- Subheadline slogan/ brief summary- Pull quote took from text and enlarged- Columns with cap drop- Dominant Image -Language informal, puns, humour

Conventions I may subvert/ change/ not use

Front CoverI am not going to use a pug in my magazine as I think it will draw away attention from the importance of the top banner and only want the masthead to be overlapped by the dominant image. I am only going to use one or two sub-images because I don’t want my page to look too crowded as this will make it more immature and less relaxed. I’m not going to include page numbers as it will take up too much room and will just be repeated again on the contents.

Contents PageI am only going to include a few sub-images so that the page is not too crowded. Instead of using my dominant image as the background image like on the front cover and double page spread, I will make the dominant image slightly smaller and frame it instead. This will allow me to have a plain background as on this page the information is the most important. I like NME’s idea of including a Band Index however think it takes up a lot of room. Instead, I will include the band index with an alternate page number under the contents features list so that the magazine will have a page specifically dedicated to the list of artists that the reader can then turn to.

Double Page SpreadI have decided not to include the name of who took the picture and who wrote the article because it will be a primary source created by me. Instead, I will make the reader aware that the article is an “editor’s choice.” This makes it seem more professional and shows the information is straight from the core of creator facts.

Original images: what/ where

My images and sub-images will be original and taken by myself. I have chosen a male model that fits with my chosen genre and will appeal to the

target audience. The clothing he wears will be different on each page and will reflect the same style of the reader from similar shops chosen in my survey

research. I will use direct mode of address and use common poses and camera angles I have researched. My dominant images will be taken outside

to use natural lighting in locations such as a graffiti alley, the beach and outside a music store. For indoor images I will use a white blank background and camera flash to make it look professional. I will use editing software to add effects such as black and white filters, light alterations and additional

features such as tattoos. Props will include a guitar. Sub-images will vary in angles and include pictures of my local record store, concerts I have been too,

tattoo images I have taken and images of my model.

Potential difficulties/ Plan B:

Potential difficulties could affect the finished product of my magazine and I would have to alter my proposals. If my model was not able to attend the photoshoot I would have to find a replacement at short notice that could

quickly fill in. In case this happens, as a plan B I have contacted a different friend who is willing to step in if there are any problems with my current model which will save me a lot of time. The weather could have affected the overall outcome of my images. If they were taken on a gloomy day they could look

less professional therefore I would have to retake. To prevent this I am checking the weather reports before taking my photos.