Double Page Spread Research V3

Above are the front cover, contents page and double page spread for an NME magazine. I am going to analyse these so that I can interpret the ways in which they have achieved a unified house style and incorporate these ideas within my designs. As you can see the colours across the board are very similar, they are either red, white, yellow or black. Although the contents page doesn't appear the follow a 'house style' and doesnt have the same design elements as the front page and double page spread; it follows the same style as other NME contents pages.

The red rectangles and design elements on the front page are brought across to the contents page though. As you can see the majority of boxes on the front page are in red, with this style continuing on onto the contents page.

Double Page Research v2

Above is the comparison between the front cover of an NME magazine and also the corresponding double page spread. As evident, the stance of the subjects in both photographs isn't hugely different - they are also all wearing the same clothes and instead of burning the magazine he is holding the burnt one. It follows the same colour scheme with the goldy text, a white background and black text also. The main article of text is evident on one side of the double page spread, with a huge Pull Quote situated in the middle of the article. There is a similar heading to the left of both the front cover and also the double page spread '60 years of NME' this helps to incorporate both of the pieces of media together to form a unified house style.

The font for the pull quotes on both the front cover and the double page spread are the same, the main article font is unique because text this small is not evident on the front page- it would not make sense to use this because it does not stand out to the reader.

2nd NME Front page and DPS

Above are the corresponding front page and double page spread for an edition of the NME magazine. They have specific design elements that help to show the reader they're from the same magazine. The picture is the first thing we see on both pieces of media because it is so bold and large. In both the front cover and the double page spread they are both wearing the same clothes but are situated in a different stance, while in the front cover it is a close up shot of the subjects faces, the double page spread it is a long shot capturing all 4 subjects. There is minimal text on the double page spread to the right in the slim and slightly translucent rectangle. A huge drop cap is used on the text to add to the design elements of the double page spread.

3rd NME Front Page and DPS

Above is another NME front page and double page spread from an edition of the magazine. Both pieces of media are from the same magazine but this time the double page spread is laid out differently, due to the title 'How it feels to spend 786 days on the road.' As you can see the double page spread is juxtaposed differently; there are a various amount of pictures from Muse's tour above and then a lot of sub headings below illustrating what they did; this is a unique double page spread and doesn't depict their usual style when creating a magazine double page spread. Although, they keep their unified house style by the use of the fonts and colours of fonts, like the cover only red white and black fonts are used on the double page spread.

4th NME Front Page and DPS

 Above are the matching front cover and double page spread from an  NME magazine. Although the two don't contain the same design elements across the two, the pictures help identify them together, they appear to be wearing the same clothes but in a very different stance. It is a great double page spread because of the eagle flying in the back, obviously I will  not have access to such a thing as this but I can try to make my picture as impressive as I can.

Contents page research 2

Above the annotated contents page and right is the matching front cover for a Q magazine. The reason I included both in this post is so that the unified house style is evident. The Q contents page is the first contents page that I have come across when doing my research that uses a whole double paged spread to get the information across. This may be its unique selling point (UPS) because I have not yet seen this feature anywhere else. Rocksound do have their contents over two pages but not over a double page spread. Even the backgrounds in both the pictures are the same; the big, blurry and yellow lights will both add to the house style of the magazine. The colourings on both the front cover of the magazine and also the contents page of the magazine work well together; the three main colours used for fonts are blue, white and gold - on both pages. The effect of doing this helps to further entice the reader and helps them identify that the two bits of media come from the same magazine. If the house style works you should be able to rip out pages of a magazine and pick them all up and know what front cover or contents page goes with what magazine .

The design elements featured on these Q front covers and contents pages are minimal. The only one that stands out is the 'Q' logo on the top left of the contents page, this is then overlayed with the word 'contents.'

Contents Page Research

Above, there are the annotated contents pages for NME magazines and then the front covers from that edition of the magazine. The reason I have put these side by side is so their is a clear unified house style between the front cover and also the contents page. Judging by the two NME editions you can see that this is the case across the board, also the same band/artist does not appear on both the cover and the contents page, this is to add a unique effect to the magazine; it does not get repetitive and tedious. It also give itself a unique selling point (UPS) to other competitors, such as Rocksound etc.

Even though the covers all have a different formatting, the contents page format stays very similar throughout each edition of the NME magazines. This keeps an effective house style across all of their magazine editions, not just on one magazine - doing this will allow the readers to get a feel of how the magazine is and then relate it back to other NME editions they may have previously read, it easily helps identify the NME branding.

The design elements of NME's magazines are very similar. They feature the arrows pointing towards the actual contents; while researching I have not yet come across a design feature like this; NME seems to be the only magazine including these designs within their contents pages. Also, under the 'This Week' headline in NME contents pages they always feature either a thick black line underlining the headline, or their is a black square behind it; this is evident in the top example which I have annotated. 

Another design element which NME include in their contents pages are the advertisments for a discounted magazine subscription with them. Within this rectangular advert they tend to include a couple of previous magazine's to entice the reader into subscribing.  

Double Page Spread Research

Above is my analysis of a double page spread taken from a NME magazine featuring The Killers. I have tightly analysed the page and the ways in which NME has tried to create a UNIQUE SELLING POINT (UPS) within their double page spread. On this double page spread there are minimal design elements this is because from my research I have found that NME create all their magazine pieces in a simplimatic format; this gets the information across easier and it is also straight to the point. Besides the image and the pull quote the text would be the main focus of this double page spread; there is a lack of design elements to distract the reader.

Above this is my tight analysis of another double page spread, not NME. Analysing two different double page spreads show the difference in unique selling points (UPS) if both double page spreads were NME they would probably be very similar so the only difference would be the pictures and the text.

Also, with the analysis of the two double page spreads above, I have read the articles themselves. By reading this I gain a clear insight into the method of writing that the editors of the magazine will use in order to capture the readers attention. I gained knowledge on the sort of questions that the interviews would ask the interviewee and incorporated them into my own questions and answers on my double page spread. 

Title Research

This is the survey I handed out to members of my class. This will help me choose the most effective and appealing title for my magazine. As evident above 'REFRAIN' was chosen the most so is obviously more liked from within the classroom; it best suits the 'indie scenester' target audience that I am looking for.

After completing my first survey with the few people that were in my class; I decided my evidence was not reliable; I then went out and surveyed 25, regular magazine-readers from the 'indie scenester' tribe and got them to choose the title they preferred the most. The evidence of this survey is above, as evident you can see that 'REFRAIN' still gained the highest 'like factor' from all of the 8 different titles available. As this is the case, the title I am going to use on my magazine is 'REFRAIN.'

Indie Music Magazine Analysis

General

The 'Indie' music magazine is produced by its own company; Indie Music Mag. It is a music magazine, but also a fashion and style magazine. Both of these topics are highly associated with the 'indie scenester' tribe. The target audience is specifically for people in the 'indie scenester' tribe; the slogan is "for the individuals". The adverts inside are also tailored to best appeal to the target audience. Evidently the manifestation of the model on the front cover is an 'indie scenester' this appearance is only evident within this tribe; this would lure the reader right into the rest of the magazine. The photographer of the magazine would have dressed the subject appropriately to best suit the target audience. The ideal reader to this magazine according to uktribes website "The look – skinny jeans, Converse, stripes and Americana T-shirts – shifted for a while when nu-rave came on the scene, but has come full circle as the genre became too mainstream, reflecting the fickleness and speed of quick changing trends in music having an impact on fashion". 


The magazine is published weekly and costs £4.89 in the UK. It is distributed all over the world so it gives different pricing depending on what currency your country uses. The magazines weekly circulation in the UK is 8,422.Unfortunately, unless you are a paying subscriber you cannot access the data on the National Readership Survey's website, and due to the low scale of the magazine there is no data readily available.

The weekly revenue from the circulation of the magazine is £41,183.58 approximately, monthly this amounts to £164,734.32 and yearly £1,976,811.84. This tells us that the magazine is low key in regards to rival magazines for example 'NME' and 'Q'; they do not have as many magazines in circulation so therefore make less money.

The cover

The title is called INDIE because that is the genre and the target audience for the magazine; the title itself connotes all these things. It is a perfect title for this particular target audience, the possible buyer of the magazine knows exactly what genre it is, purely by looking at the masthead and the headline. The masthead of the magazine is very bold and outgoing; it requisites to the reader immediately. It is easy to read and fits in with the unified 'house style' very effectively.


The main image is as expected, very individual. The average person usually doesn't see someone like the model on the front cover everyday. The facial expression is antagonized, the photographer for the magazine has clearly instructed the model to pose like this in order to fit into the stereotypes associated with an 'indie scenester'. The subject is looking collinear into the camera, this formally address the reader and lures them into turning the page. The only part of the body other than the face showing is her hand, her hand is pressed tightly against her face and suggests a catechism feel about it.  Her clothing is very individual, someone wearing this is very rife. All these reach out to the stereotype because they are very indie and unusual in a way, idiosyncratic even.

There is barely anything promoted by the cover lines on the magazine, the only thing that is said is 'Don't don't you want me'; this could act well for the magazine though. By the use of minimum content being displayed, it entices the reader to get engrossed and read deeper into the magazine. No other images are displayed on the front cover, this is so the subject is completely consolidated and the reader is immediately focussing on her. It is quite a colourful magazine; although this is only through the picture used. The fonts on the front cover are either white or yellow, no other colour is used. The model's clothing and make up gives the magazine its colourful edge. The font is san-serif because it is more  informal, this helps create a rapport with the reader, rather than give them facts and figures. There are no graphics evident on the front cover of this magazine. The only language feature evident on the cover is the question to the reader 'Don't don't you want me', apart from this, there is no other text on the front cover of this magazine. The cover talks to the reader through the use of the question.

This cover doesn't look very similar to any other magazines that I have researched. It is a very devoid
front cover, there isn't really anything on it. This all goes towards the unique selling point (USP). the other unique selling point is the model herself, she is very peculiarly dressed and her make up is somewhat intrinsic, this helps differentiate between different magazines. This magazine also offers fashion, style and music; instead of just music. This will bring along a wider range of people and will encourage more people to purchase the magazine.


Inside
There are 64 pages within this magazine; an optimum amount for 'indie scenesters' as proven by my other research. Within these 64 pages there are 9 advertisements evident. These advertisments are all specifically tailored for the 'indie' stereotypes. There are 5 advertisments that are non musical or fashion related, one of these advertisments is a  health product - spot cover up; this would appeal higher to the younger, teenaged readers of the magazine. Just by looking at the advertorials of a magazine you can assume a target audience, the target audience judging on the advertisments in this magazine is for younger listeners of indie music or younger indie dressers.   


The magazine achieves a unified house style by keeping a congruent language throughout. It is written informally to create a contingency with the audience and keep them reading on further into the magazine. The use of drop down quotes and pull out quotes to create a consociation between the reader and the magazine. The colour schemes stay interminable throughout the magazine to keep a unified house style these also coincide with the graphical elements throughout the magazine. The house style is appropriate to the target audience because it is informal; just like an 'indie scenester' and it further proves this while studying the formality of the magazine. It assumes that the target audience prefer an informal bond with the magazine in contrast to a formal one.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

 

Example of an Indie Song

This is a great example of a song that an 'Indie Scenester' would like to listen too. It is a very popular song from within the genre and the band are very big at the moment themselves. From watching this music video you can study the band and the clothes they are wearing etc. Also just by listening to it you can gain a stronger feel on the 'Indie Scenester' tribe.

Bands like this would be evident within an indie magazine because they fulfill the target audience's expectations. The music video would not be evident in the magazine although it may be available through a hyperlink on an internet based magazine.

Colouring Of My Magazine Research

While researching and investigating into existing music magazine covers I have noticed that they all use roughly the same colouring for the formatting of the magazine and also the fonts; Red, White and Black - Kerrang! Also likes to use yellow. These colours are especially evident in the 'indie scenester' type of magazine that I have been enquiring. To the left is an example of a Kerrang! magazine using all these colours together in a successful manner.

This is proving to me that when designing my front cover, I should use these colours; especially white. They seem to appeal best to the 'indie scenesters' tribe so it would be a wise move to include them on my magazine. Also, these colours are clean and can look formal. Obviously when taking my photos i'll have to avoid wearing clothing with these colours on so they do not overlap and then become hard to read.

These are various other different editions of magazines that clearly use the red, white and yellow colour schemes. This are all different brands of magazine too, 'Vibe' 'NME' 'Q' and also 'Kerrang!'; The colouring is very popular in the 'Indie Scenester' target audience. This colour scheme is very popular because it stands out to the reader; these ablaze but adept colours attract the reader but also provide a formal outlook as well. These colours also collaborate with the background images the majority of the time, they do not ensconce within the clothing colours etc. 





 

Font Research

Currently, the font that appeals best to my target audience is probably Accidental Presidency. It is neat, tidy and quite formal, even though I will be writing my double page spread informally to create a rapport with the reader, I want my font to look formal. Most of the fonts above would probably be sufficient but I believe that the Accidental Presidency has the most character. Also, I believe that using san serif makes the magazine look more professional and formal. A serif font can look tacky and take away the 'professional' look to my magazine. Accidental Presidency is a great san serif font to use because it is formal and easy to read.

Survey On what Font to use

Current Music Magazines Fonts

As shown above are very popular music magazines that are still being published. They all appear to be using red, white and yellow in their logos, except the Billboard logo which uses a blue inside the 'A' this all though is its unique selling point (UPS). Each of them are using either red, white and yellow, either all three, two or just using one of them colours on there own. These are all very successful magazines so it would be worth while using these colours in the logo of my music magazine.

Kerrang
Music Magazine Analysis

 General

Kerrang! is produced by a company called Bauer Media Group. The target audience I found on the bauer media groups website is; 'Our spectrum of readers. From the younger teenage readers who are more open to different genres of rock music - from EMO to Thrash etc, to the readers who respect Kerrang!' The magazine averagely costs about £2.20,it is also published weekly

Kerrang!'s weekly circulation is 42,077. Unfortunately unless you are a paying subscriber you cannot access the data on the National Readership Survey's website, although this is what The Guardian had to say about the Kerrang! website; 'Kerrang! may have lost focus in recent years, but the fact that it continues to thrive after three decades is cause for celebration' If all magazines in circulation were each purchased by one person then the weekly revenue would be £92,569.40, monthly this is £370,277.06

The Cover

The title is called that because it is onomatopoeic of the high pitched 'screech' that comes out from a guitar when strummed incorrectly or highly. This illustrates and works well with the target audience for the magazine.

All three subjects (Muse) all seem to be smiling and have a happy expression. They are all looking directly at the camera and the person on the far left is pointing at the camera; they are all similarly dressed - in a leather jacket each. This creates a rapport with the reader which is ideal for the specified target audience. They are juxtaposed to the right of the magazine; this allows the editor of the magazine to fill the left side of magazine with editorials. These editorials are put in place to beguile the readers of the magazine into reading further in.

Although, another 7 images appear on the cover of this edition. They are here to concede to the reader what is inside of the magazine without them even turning a page. The magazine states there are 5 posters inside, 'your ultimate rock hero revealed' , also different competitions that could be won.The colours of fonts are either black, white, red or yellow. Their is one unchanged font on the cover of this magazine; this helps to achieve a unified 'house style'. The cover talks to the reader by addressing it as if the reader was its friend. The magazine is written informally to create a rapport and a relationship with the reader, writing informally helps this happen because its as a friend would speak. The cover of this Kerrang! magazine is unlike any other music magazine, it offers a more rugged feel about it, there is barely any space left on the cover once the text and images are placed on. The unique selling point (USP) of this magazine is the dishevelled feel about it.  The cover is very trashy and messy, but this portrays the target audience bests likes.

Inside

On the inside of the magazine there are 63 pages,18 of these pages are advertorials, the advertisements include; Album releases, live concerts, music festivals, subscription deals and health care products. You can tell a lot about the target audience of a magazine by the adverts; these adverts are clearly assigned to appeal best to the readers of the magazine. Judging by the adverts that are contained within this magazine they are tailored to people who listen to rock music.

The artical topics inside the magazine include;

Rock Music News
Live Reviews
Posters
Featured Articles
Album Releases and Reviews
Gig Guide
The Ultimate Rockstar Test

There are 7 double page spreads inside this edition of the Kerrang! magazine which talk about a variety of topics varying from interviews with bands, to the line ups of upcoming concerts. Kerrang! achieves a unified house style in all of its magazines by keeping the fonts and the colour changes to a  minimum; there are only a few font changes and three main font colours - red, white and yellow. The language throughout the magazine is informal and the colour schemes remain similar - black, red, white and yellow. All graphical elements are very similar too, each drop down quote is formatted the same and images on a page are usually circled. The house style is appropriate to the target audience because it is very messy, which is stereotypically implied about the listeners of rock etc. it is appropriate because it helps back up and strengthen the stereotype.

Typical Indie Bands/ Musicians

General Research On My Selected Target Audience

Indie music is very big at the moment it has grown progressively over the last couple of years, and now it is starting to make its way into the 'mainstream' charts.

The website 'uktribes' had this to say about the typical Indie Scenester;

Typical Indie Scenester

'The Indie Scenester still likes to be ahead of the game when it comes to discovering new music. They still can’t quite shake off the skinny jeans though.'

 

 

I chose to use indie as my genre for my magazine because it is a big scene at the moment. I found this information out through studying the youth market on uktribes website. They are also keen on purchasing magazines as shown on the figure on the right. This type of youth market has one of the highest media consumptions for magazines than any of the other 'types' of youth.


Below is the comparison between the 'chavs' magazine consumption and the 'indie scenesters'






It would not be worth while trying to find the music genre for the steriotypical 'chav' because they barely ever puchase magazines; they have a light media consumption of magazines as shown above.

The 'indie' look  according to uktribes '– skinny jeans, Converse, stripes and Americana T-shirts – shifted for a while when nu-rave came on the scene, but has come full circle as the genre became too mainstream, reflecting the fickleness and speed of quick changing trends in music having an impact on fashion. Currently labels such as American Apparel, Topshop/Topman and Uniqlo are high street staples, with House of Holland appealing to more affluent members of the Indie Scenester crowd. '

The word 'indie' arouse from individual, 'indie scenesters' see themselves as individuals and don't follow the crowd when making there media related choices. Surprisingly enough there are a lot of individuals in the UK; all of which believe they are unlike any one else, this is a good reason to base my magazine on this type of genre. When an indie scenester finds out about a new band or new music, they like to brag about it, therefore getting my magazine out there.

An Interview with an 'Indie Scenester'

What is your name?

Leigh Peterson

Favourite band or artist?

Probably Metronomy or Bombay Bicycle Club, I like their smooth acoustic guitar sounds and their calm voices.

How many music magazines do you purchase or read? If any?

I try to purchase one every fortnight, it helps me keep up with the latest music info and tour dates etc.

Most read magazine? If any?

The music magazine that most appeals to be for content and formatting is Q, I do occasionally buy an NME magazine though.

Where do you shop?

I shop predominately at Topshop and Urban Outfitters; I like their unique style of clothing. If not I try charity shops or at Camden. 

An Interview with an 'Indie Scenester' 

What is your name?

Luke Black

Favourite band or artist?

I quite like Mikill Payne, he is a rapper who likes to tell subliminal messages behind his raps. I enjoy the meaning and thought behind his lyrics.

How many music magazines do you purchase or read? If any?

I rarely purchase a magazine as such, I like to purchase the magazines online, it gives a better user interface and easier access to the information.

Most read magazine? If any?

I like to read the NME magazine online, it is superbly laid out and easy to read.

Where do you shop?

I like to shop at Topman or H&M, although there is an online website called dopechef where I like to buy some of my clothing.

An avatar representation of an 'Indie Scenester'

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=7162003&height=133&width=100