Planning for my front cover picture

For a my music magazine I am going to have to organise a photoshoot so I can get a variety of images I could use for the cover of my music magazine. All magazines have an image on the front of the cover that fits the genre of the magazine.The front cover is used in a visual syntax of a magazine. The majority of music magazines have just one person on the front as sometimes having multiple of people can make the front cover look unplanned and cluttered if it is not done in the right way.

 First I am going to take a variety of shots of myself and my two friends Jamie King and Sydney Canning. I am going to take both pictures of single people and also take coupled pictures so I have a variety of different styles.I can also test both of these different styles on my mock ups to see which works best. I am going to take a lot of eye line shots, close ups and midshots. I'm going to make some of these shots very fun and others very serious. In some shots I am going to have them looking straight at the camera and others looking away, others are going to be sat on the side a little and looking at an angle. These are the sort of images that are normally used on a front cover. I am going to make sure through out the pictures I take that I try a variety of emotions. The shots I end up taking will allow the audience to see the true emotion on the models faces. The models I am going to be using are teenage females. The reason I'll be using females is because I can do a lot more hair and makeup wise. I am going to have some shots where my hair is going to be down and curly, Sydney's hair is going to be up in a bun and Jamie's hair is going to be down and her fringe is going to be in a small quiff.
My images are going to be taken inside so I do not have to worry about what the weather is like or the lightening effecting what my pictures turn out like. I will be taking my images inside against a plain white wall. This will give my images the more professional look. I am also going to be using a table lamp so I can control  whether the lighting on my images are lighter or darker.I am also going to be using a good quality camera (Canon EOS 600D) so my images turnout really clear and aren't pixelated. The majority of the shots I take are going to be midshots and close ups.

Me and Sydney are going to be taking so more fun shots, we are going to take some shots where we mirror each other, some where we are laughing and hugging just simply to look as though we are having a good time.This will then make my magazine look as though it is interesting a lot of fun and as though a lot of things are going on inside of the magazine. I am also going to take some single shots of myself and Jamie. I am going to try a lot of effects out on the images of myself whereas with the images of Jamie I am going to do 2 different makeup styles. The first one I am going to have her wearing a leopard print top, I am then going to use a lot of bronzer on her face and use liquid eyeliner to draw a leopard print pattern. The next idea I have is for us both to wear a dark coloured top. We will then have silver glitter on our lips, silver stars on opposite sides of our faces and a little wash of eyeshadow. I will be wearing eyeliner and false eyelashes and Jamie will be wearing just eyeliner on the top of her eyes.

My mastheads.

I have decided to call my magazine loud.

Here I have created several masthead ideas that I may consider using on my music magazine cover. I have used a lot of different tools to create these. First of all I either used the text tool on fireworks or I used a website called 'Dafont.' To create these ideas I either used the fill tool and selected and colour and filled in the text, others I added a stroke around them and filled them with a certain colour. The first masthead I simply typed out the word 'loud' and deleted the 'o' so I was left with 'LUD' I then added a few spaces between the 'L' and the 'U' and when on the internet and found a paw print. I then added the paw print into the space. Using the fill tool I then changed the colour of the paw print. I also created mastheads that have a background. To create these I went onto the internet and found a background I liked. In this case it was the leopard print and the flowers. I then copied and pasted these into fireworks and made them into a rectangular shape. Next I used the text tool to type out the word 'LOUD.' This was then added on top of the background and then got flattened together so then it became one.For the ones with the black background instead of finding an image on the internet I used the shape tool to draw myself a black rectangle. Some of the text also had a small black stroke around it. I also created some mastheads where the text had an image within it. I created these by simply inserting an image that I liked. Next I used the text tool to type out some text, 'LOUD.' Next I selected both the text and the image, went to modify and selected mask options, then I selected group as mask effect where you can see the image is filled inside the text. Then I selected the pointer tool and dragged the best part of the image into the text. Next I went to modify and selected flatten selection. 

Name ideas for my magazine.

• Loud
• Music
• Gossip
• Glitz
• Bliss
• Chatterbox
  

Brand identity and brand values

Brand identity-
Brand identity is a visual element that can help you identify something. For example, to help you identify a magazine you will take note of things such as the logo, font, house style, layout, name, symobols, colours and the design. This is what helps an audience identify a music magazine.


Brand values-
The brand value is the extra bit of money that a company is able to make due to there product just because of the brand name they have.

Layouts for my front cover

Here I designed 8 different layouts that I could consider using when it comes to creating my music magazine. Every magazine has its own layout which helps add to its own brand identity. I would like my layout to be none cluttered and for everything to be placed away neatly. Id like it all to be in line so the main focus is the imagine on the front.

Questionnaire results and Pie charts

1.       What is your favourite thing to read about in music magazines?

        Boy bands= 12

         Girl groups= 4

         Gossip= 2

    Female singers= 3

        Male singers= 4

2.       How much are you willing to pay for a music magazine?

       £1 - £1.99= 12

        £2 – £2.99= 13

        £3 - £3.99= 0

        £4+ = 0

3.       In an interview with a celebrity do you prefer?

                                                       Continuous text = 8

       Questions and answers= 17

4.       What colour scheme do you prefer?

         Black and white= 8

         Girly colours= 11

       Pastel= 0

        Warm= 0

         Cold= 0

         Primary colours= 0

       Bright, bold colours= 6

5.       What is it that makes you buy music magazines?

         The image that’s on the front cover= 16

         The name of the magazine = 0

       You normally buy this magazine= 6

         The headlines= 0

         The singers that are featured in it= 3

       Other= 0

If you have selected other please state what here:

6.       What do you like to read in a music magazine?

    Different reviews= 0

    Interviews= 12

   Fashion= 6

  Quizzes= 1

 Concerts= 6

Other= 0

If you have selected other please state what here:

  

7.       What artists would you like to see feature in the music magazine?

   Olly Murs= 2

   Ed Sheeran= 3

    Jessie J= 1

    Robin Thicke= 1

    Little Mix= 4

   Katy Perry=1

   Union J= 2

   One Direction= 6

   The Vamps= 3

   Ellie Goulding= 1

   Lady gaga= 1

8.       Why do you like music magazines?

   Quizzes= 6

   Concerts= 4

   Interviews= 5

   Gossip= 7

   They’re interesting= 2

   Looking at the clothes= 1

9.       How often do you buy music magazines?

   Once a month= 7

   Twice a week= 6

   Twice a month= 1

   Once a week= 10

   Three times a month= 1

This pie chart shows that the audience of my music magazine prefers to read more about boy bands.

This pie chart shows that most my audience would pay for a music magazine is £2-£2.99.

This means I need t make my magazine worth the price.

This pie chart shows that most my audience prefer to read questions and answers than continuous text, this means I need to include as many question and answers as possible.

This pie chart shows that girly colours are the most popular with my audience. This means that I am going to have use colours such as pinks and purples etc to attract my audience.

This pie chart shows that most my audience buy a music magazine due to what image is on the front of the magazine. This means I am going to have to have an interesting, good quality, unique image on the front.

This pie chart shows that most my audience like to read different interviews in magazines. This means that I will have to advertise different interviews on the front cover of my magazine to attract my audience to the magazine.

This pie chart shows that most my audience like music magazines due to the gossip that is inside. this means that I will have to advertise on the front cover the most interesting pieces of gossip that is inside as it will attract my audience to my music magazine and it will make them want to buy it.

This pie chart shows that most my audience buy music magazines regularly, the majority of my audience buy them once a week so I will have to keep up to date and advertise the next issue. this means I will also need to think of fresh ideas for the next issue of my music magazine. 

This pie chart shows that most of my audience like to see one direction featured in music magazines. this means that I will have to do some advertisement on one direction so my audience is attracted more to my music magazine.

Denotation & Connotation

Connotation-Connotation is the associations that are connected to a particular words or if  there is emotional suggestions that are related to the word. The connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative meanings. For example you could say the connotations for a devil are Evil, Mean, Cruel, Trouble. You could say that the connotation is a suggested meaning and an association to a denotation.

Denotation- Denotation is when you describe what you can see in a lot of  detail. It can also be explain as  a literal reading of the image itself.