NAME CHANGE

Recently, I have taken the chance and changed the name of my magazine. I have spoken about the decision on changing the name in a prior post and have finally come to the decision to change it.
Although i like the name 'PURE', after speaking to a range of people within my target audience I asked them what genre they think of when hearing the name PURE and the majority replied with a pop genre due to it connoting the ideology of this genre.
So, after hearing this I went back to the drawing board and came up with the name SIGNATURE. I like this name as I feel that it suits the genre alot more. My reasoning behind this name was the idea that every signature is unique- much like the indie genre and the idea of a 'time signature' im music. "The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, bar signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each bar"
I again went away after coming up with this name and surveyed my TA into what genre they would pair this name with and the majority came back with indie so i went ahead with it.
I also prefer this name as when it is on my front cover it is spread right across the top of the page. I think that this gives it a more professional look as the majority of magazines have a title which fills the top.

second draft CONTENTS PAGE

first draft DOUBLE PAGE SPEAD

here is my first attempt at my double page spread. as you can see i have stuck to the conventional layout buy using columns and one page of pictures and the other of the article.

Unfortunately, the software that i used (word) did not allow me to create a double page spread so to resolve this problem i came up with a solution, although it was very long winded.
i typed just the article on word and then print screened it, before this i had created a landscape page with images on the left hand side. I then uploaded

this image to pixlr and added the article on top of it too achieve the look that the article was on the right hand side. from this, i added the extras such as the masthead, the image in the right hand corner and the quote. i am happy with the overall look but will survey my target audience for responses on how to change it.
Again, unfortunately, my article is un-readable at the size of the posted image due to the original image having to be stretched causing it to be pix-elated. i cannot do anything about this at this point but i will type up the full article into another post. (click here)

Full article

What you will need: 

• One tough pair of wellies- god forbid a festival without wellies!
• A tent- preferably one you don't mind getting broken by the antics.
• Sleeping bag- essential!
• Money- who wants to waste the day queuing at a cash machine?! 
• Camera- portable or digital to capture your fav artists.
• Clothes- but pack light and make sure you warn mum to be ready to wash the beer and mud out of every item.
• ALCOHOL- whatever takes your fancy and as much as you can carry!

Upon arrival;

Now, this may be considered the most stressful and challenging part of your festival weekend! if you're driving by car, i must recommend taking a photo of where you park or you may be staying a bit longer than you expected to! Next, go find your tent pitch. It is essential to be in the perfect place- at least 50ft from the toilets to avoid the inevitable queue's but not too far away to stop you being able to take a sneaky mid night trip. 

Once you've chosen the perfect, but practical, tent place set up your tent safely

and securely (or as safe as you can get it) have a wonder round,

Get your bearings and take a mental note of anything you may need to know, i.e. the toilets, main stages and food vans. After this, go back to your tent and guess what

start drinking! Whatever the time is, who cares?! Drinking time is anytime at a festival! Also, try to drink as much as you can before heading off to the main arenas as any drink you have on you will be confiscated on entry (and the chance of getting it back is about the same chance of getting it in there in the first place). Now, once you believe to be a nice, kind of happy drunk its time to hit the first main arena!

This may vary for different festivals as some may have a few main music stages so the best thing to do is buy one of those handy programmes that hang round your neck and make a note of the bands or artists you cannot miss. Once you've decided on the must see bands take a wonder round and see if anyone is playing, preferably someone you haven't heard of... Festivals are a great chance to widen your music taste! 

This should take up a couple of hours or so, and if you're still alive at the end then you pretty sure to survive the rest of the festival. 

While you're there;

Toilets- yes, they're disgusting but you're just going to have to

man it and hold your nose and

whatever you do, don't look

down! 

 Washing- there is a minimal

Chance of this happening! Some festivals do you provide you with showering facilities- ones that make you feel dirtier than when you went in, so your best bet is the going to be the bowl and tap… so make sure you pack your toothbrush and flannel for a quick freshen up! Deodorant is essential to as you can imagine!

Sleeping- Sleep as much as you can at night! Energy needs to be conserved for all the time you'll be vertical with dancing and getting drunk (although this could lead to being horizontal!)

Finding people- now, signal is pretty rubbish at festivals in the middle of a field so pre arrange to meet people in person and decide on a spot to meet everyone if you do happen to get lost within the mayhem. But if not, go socialise and hopefully you will all end up at the same tent later that day!

The boring bit;

Safety first, blah, blah, blah. I know this wont be the most interesting thing I thought I would give you all some top tips to stay safe during our many festival adventures.

Tip 1- Although the majority of people are festivals are fine, you do get the odd one or two. So if you do fear for your safety or well-being. Head to the nearest well-lit area and introduce yourself to the staff

Tip 2- anything you do not want to loose, do not take it. However if you do have to take it then my tip is to hind it somewhere in your tent like in/under your pillow when you’re out.

second draft FRONT COVER

here is a second draft i created taking the criticisms of my first into consideration. I changed the front as i feel that this font is more suited to the genre and many people said that my previous font was more suited to the pop genre. I added more black into the front cover again to emphisise the indie genre. however, i kept the overall layout and placing the same as many people liked the overall look of my front cover. I again asked people for feed back in order to help me create my final front cover.

'the font change was idea and it looks more like an indie magazine now, but i'd maybe change the font on some of the sell lines to make them clearer to read.'

'i like the name signature more than pure and the black title is more effective.'

'there's nothing i would change, i think its really good!' 

'maybe put the title behind the balloons, alot of magazines do that.'

although there was not many things people wanted me to change, i will still go away and play with the placing of the title and the colour of the font untill i am happy with my final draft.

first drafts CONTENTS PAGE

these are two of my first drafts of my contents page, although they both have different overall layouts they still stick to the same house style i am trying to keep throughout my magazine.
after asking my target audience about these drafts, i received a variety and a split of opinions and criticisms. 6 people said they preferred the left image and the rest (7) preferred the right image. here are some of the responses:

'I prefer the one on the left because you can read the writing more clearly.'

'The right one is better because the subscribe bit is clearer and more eye catching than the one on the left.'

'I like the left one would be the best if the writing was on the left hand side of the image as in a magazine you read from left to right.'

in my opinion, i prefer the left image as i like the way the writing is in the sky and the placing of the subscribe section. i will take into consideration the ideas and opinions i got and go away and create another contents page draft. 

Audience Pleasures.

Audience pleasures are a set of techniques used by all types of texts in the media whether it be TV, radio or magazines. They are used to appeal to an audience ensuring that they buy/watch the chosen text.

These things include a sense of being given too; direct mode of address; information; sense of belonging; entertainment; ritual pleasure of consuming the familiar, and self/personal definition. All of these ideas will help my magazine maintain a large readership.

By using freebies, such as posters, concert tickets and downloads etc my target audience will have a sense of being given too which is a strong and successfull way to ensure that they keep buying the magazine as they feel like the magazine is personally giving them something. I will also promote the idea of subscribing to the magazine to recieve 30% discount on the next issue brought to link to this audience pleasure.

This also links to the idea of a second technique called 'Direct mode of address'- this is achieved by using personal pronouns such as 'you', 'we', 'us' and our. This inclusive language ables the reader to feel included and 'part of' the magazine and its readership. Almost like a community which links to the idea of another audience pleasure 'a sense of belonging'.

A 'sense of belonging' is crucial to ensure that an audience is kept and will continue to buy the product. The reader of a music magazine immedietly makes the reader feel that they 'belong' to a community of fellow lovers of the said genre and people with the the same interests and hobbies.

A third technique is the language within the magazineence is 'semantic field of music'. This is when you use music based words that describe that genre or music. The use of this technique would be brilliant to use as it brings the entire magazine together and draws the audience in, as the words being used to describe are genre based. This imagery is what appeals to our audience to keep them entertained.

Lastly, an audience pleasure I will add to my magazine is the idea of information being given. Magazine readers like to be given information when they read something and this can be done by interviews and/or articles (like the article I have chosen to do). I will also try to include a sense of humour within my magazine article as humour is a big part of audience pleasure as a magazines main purpose is to entertain the reader. Another way to inform the reader is to put inside the magazine either gig guides or festival dates. This could easily link to a competition inside the magazine to win tickets for a certain gig. The guides and festival dates link to music magazines of all genres as at festivals more than 1 band play and therefore more than one type of genre is played, reaching a wider audience.

I shall use as many of these audience pleasures as possible to make sure that my music magazine is the the most successful and as appealing as it can be, making sure I reach my target audience and appeal to the fully.

first drafts FRONT COVER

these are my first two drafts of my final front cover. I darkened to the image to give it a more indie look and colour matched the writing to the colour of the balloons to ensure that the writing matched the image.
I then produced the next image, adding the price and issue date as i forgot the add these in my prior draft. I like my first draft as think it has a coherant looks about it by the image and font. I also think that the sell lines i included immediatly emphisise the idea that it a music magazine. I used a symantic field of music language on the front cover to ensure this with words such as 'artist', 'songs', 'tour' and 'tickets'.
However, after showing people this front cover i recieved alot of ideas in which i could use to improve it.
ASHLIEGH(17)- 'Dont have the page three bit slanted and put it underneath the victoria bit. Move the barcode and roatate it so its sideways on the right hand side half way up the edge with the price and make the ellie tickets bigger and moved onto the left side.'
ELLA(16)- 'maybe put the balloons over the title'
ALICE(19)- 'id put page three uder the victoria and the bottom bit looks a bit empty near the barcode and i'd make the space between 'pure' and 'victoria' and the top the same'
BRITTANY(17)- 'I'd make the title a different colour to the rest of the writing'

So, by taking these comments into consideration my main aim was to move the page three and make the bottom part less empty so i created this second draft.

I changed the font to a different from from the sell lines to emphisise that it is the main title. I also moved the price to near the barcode as suggested in my feed back. I also lightened the image to give it more of a festival feel reinforced by the idea of wellies on the image and the inside article.
I again went and asked for feed back of this draft on how to improve it further however this time i question whether it suited my genre aswell.

MRS FEARNLEY- 'i think the only thing making it look more like a pop magazine than indie is the large spacing between the writing. With indie, its more rough and not so prim and proper as youve created this and maybe add a little more black, but other than that, it suites the genre.'
ROB- 'I think it looks too poppy. the colours are too bright and fun and indie is more cheap hence the indiependance of the artists. they will not have alot of money. but the image is fab. Add more black and a more block font.'
ELLA- 'use a different font and use duller colours and maybe darken the image.'

I also spoke to someone who used to be in the music industry managaing bands and was in a band himself. He advised me to change the name aswell. i was considering changing the name so this may be something i think further about. We came up with the name SIGNATURE with the idea of a time signature in music and the idea that every signature is unique like the indie industry. I will survey the idea of this name with my target audience to help decide whether to change it to this.

Questionnaire

QUESTIONNAIRE 

- I devised a questionnaire to ask various people from my target audience to find out what they would want in an indie pop magazine in order to try and make my final product as appealing as possible:

1. Who's your favourite Indie Pop band?

• Fallout boy
• Ed Sheeran 
• Foster the Peopl
• One Republic

2. What would make you buy an Indie pop music magazine?

• people I like, new bands
• someone new
• bands I like, girls, festivals
• a good band

3. Who would you like to see inside?

• a mix of really famous and really new upcoming artists

4. What's your impression of Indie Pop fans?

• individual
• unique
• Laid back
• fun
• Cool

5. What do you expect to find inside?

• posters
• interviews with bands
• reviews
• festival events 
• concerts
• horoscopes
• music
• line ups 

6. What adverts would you expect to see?

• upcoming concerts and festivals
• music vouchers

7. How often would you like it to be released?

• majority said fortnightly 
• minority said monthly

8. How much would you pay?

• £2.50
• less that £5
• up to £5
• £2

To summarise my findings, the people I interviewed generally all wanted the same thing. 

Like any other magazine they expected to find posters, charts, upcoming events and interviews. It being a Indie Rock magazine led them to want a mixture of both new and original artists to keep the magazine current and up to date. I will probably have the magazine be a fortnightly one as this option came out most popular, and put the cost at £4 because from the answers I received it was obvious people would pay this amount.