Purpose
My magazine is called ‘ALT’ which is an alternative rock
genre magazine. The purpose of the magazine I am going to create is to
entertain and promote the genre of alternative rock in the local area. Firstly
to promote the bands that feature in the local area. For example they perform
at local gigs. This magazine will help the band with exposure to the local
people and may attract more people to their music if they are a fan of the
alternative rock genre. Also the purpose for this magazine is also to entertain
the stereotypical alternative rock fan with facts and photos and interaction
with all their favourite artists. These 2 purposes being very important in this
magazine that is done correctly and for fills its purpose, making the magazine
very good quality.
Form and Genre
I will be making a local magazine for the Sheffield area. To
make this local I will be using local talent and use of local locations. For
example the use of places like Café Totem which is a well-known place in
Sheffield that bands play at, other places including the Motorpoint Arena in
Sheffield. This use of these places
connote the main locations of this magazine thus making it local to the target
audience. The genre of this magazine is music as it includes musical artists
and bands with musical instruments being shown. The sub-genre of this magazine
would be alternative rock thus linking with the title of the magazine that
being ‘Alt’ short for alternative, that being short for alternative rock. The
genre is clearly shown from the main cover image which shows all the feature of
an. alternative rock magazine from the clothing of the models to seriousness of
the male gaze.
Content
I have been asked to make 4 pages of magazine those pages
being the front cover, the contents page and a double page spread.
Front Cover
On the front cover of my magazine the main cover image will
highlight the main story that is on the double page spread. The masthead of my
magazine is in the corner of my magazine in a square graphic shape. The colour
of the masthead is red with white and black writing for the title of the
magazine. These colours show the reader the house style of the magazine of red
and white and black. These colours will attract the reader to the magazine
because these colours connote an appropriate selection of colours as they
contrast well this could connote the quality of magazine making the reader
believe that the magazine is good through the good selection of colours. Also,
the colours could connote that out of the ordinary style as the red stands out
form the mainly white background this could link to the genres style of being
out of the ordinary as alternative rock I quite unique and stands out that what
the masthead does with the colours. The serif font on the first letter could
connote the out of ordinary style because of its double line use on the left
side of the A there is a double line that is not used in ordinary writing this
making it u ordinary and unique thus linking to the genre of the magazine. The
main cover image will be the featured band that being Squarewave, a local band
from Sheffield, this helping with the locality of the magazine. The clothing
that Sqaurewave are wearing can also connote the genre of the magazine. The
colour of these clothes and the material of the clothes, that being flannel
which is stereotyped to be with the target market of rock, can connote the
genre as the ideal self in comparison to the genre, for example the artic
monkeys wear similar clothing thus creating a trend that this magazine is
trying to follow. The lower right graphics are in keeping with the housestyle
of the magazine by being a solid red shape, the shape being a square to show
consistency throughout the magazine. These graphics also stand out from the
magazine as they are 3d and in front of the main cover image acting as a sell
line as it promotes other content in the magazine. The content in the magazine
being local as clearly shown in the graphic as locations are shown in bold san
serif writing to be clearly shown by the change in font colour to make it more
visible. The main cover image will be accompanied by a large appropriate quote
that is link to the band that are featuring in the main cover image, the main
quote will clearly state the band's name and their purpose on the magazine. The
font for the band's name is in a bolder font than the rest of the quote too
connote a sense of importance. The quote being band specific linking the band
to the genre and to recent events. This recent event being the release of their
new album which is the main reason that the band are feature d in the magazine.
Contents Page
The articles that will be featured on my contents page will
be page specific as they will go in page order from page 1 – page 26. In each
page article there will be photo of the featured artist or person with the name
in the housestyle colours of white to make it visible to the reader as it will
be presented in from the image and the red square graphic. The photos for all
the articles will be larger in ratio to the writing, this directly thinking
about the target audience, because the target audience is so young and niche
means they were born in the late 90s or early 10s meaning they have become
apparent to the new stereotype that young do not read and prefer pictures,
which they may be acting like themselves. The photos will be about the
highlighted band on that page and will either have portraits of the band or mid
action shots of them performing. Also, the large picture in could connote the
importance of the person as this to the certain page in the magazine. At the
top of the contents page there will be one photo that is larger than the rest
of the other shown pages connoting the importance of this article. My article
will be Squarewave, the band who are featured on the front cover. This shows
the continuation of importance for this band as they get the biggest photo of the
grid layout featuring a large photo and multiple columns full of photos and the
front cover all connoting that this band is the main event of this magazine. The
photo will be of them playing their instruments, this letting the target reader
see how they play and what they look like playing. This could lead to the
target reader wanting to see this band thus creating more exposure for
Squarewave. The slug of in this contents page in the top left corner of the
contents page is a greeting to the reader making the contents page seem more interactive
with the reader as it is a direct greeting to the reader, for example the word
welcome or hello, this all connotes that the magazine wants the reader to read
on, also this could be connoting friendliness saying that they want anyone to
read the magazine.
Double Page Spread
Target Audience
Resources And Personnel
Specification
On my first page of my double page spread will have the first half the red border that is used in every single page of the magazine, this being the housestyle of the magazine. The image that will be taking up lot of space in this page is the photo of Squarewave wearing the same clothing as they were on the front cover, thus showing continuity of the magazine. These clothes being a contrast of light and dark colours or just dark colours, this connoting the genre of the music they play, this linking to the genre of the magazine making the photo seem appropriate and through that making the band seem appropriate to the reader, making them understand why these are the main feature in the magazine. The shot type for this main photo will be a wide action shot to enhance the atmosphere that this band can create which directly appeals to the reader because it will satisfy their need to be a music festival situation which this photo denotes. The photo clearly shows all 3 members of Squarewave performing to give the full band the credit in this article written about them. The exospore and shutter speed of this photo makes them visible and with the slight blur can connote the intensity of the event showcased in this photo. The pull quote that is overlaid in front of this photo states a chunk that has been taken out of Squarewaves’s album, this quote connotes action, as the statement can be seen as sudden and maybe in an aggressive manor, this could link to the genre as the genre of music can be interpreted as aggressive with heavy metal being highly linked. To back this up the punctuation is very aggressive, as traditionally the exclamation mark is seen as anger and rage in normal language, this linking to the main features of the band's music and the genres music in general. Also, this punctuation can also connote the requirement of attention, this linking to the main topic of this main feature that being that Squarewave want to be known by the reader.
The bodycopy with a red border that is overlaid over the main photo of the band, will main facts about Squarewave just to inform the reader of who their and slowly going into detail. This is done using past events that they have done and using positive statistics making Squarewave seem right to be in this DPS. The content will go in a chronological way in the bands history to make the reader feel like they know the band more connoting a sense of importance with the band. After this chronological timeline. The next section is about the upcoming events that the band will be doing and where. The next part of the article will be band questions I have picked as a way for the reader to find out more about the band and be able to plan events with them and remember them. Through the middle of this white text box there will be a photo of the band of the band playing from a different angel in portrait to fit into the text box and have the words go around the photo. This photo can create a visual representation of what is being said in the text box, this making the reader understand more again about the band. The font for this article will sans serif font, this connotes a seriousness to the article this linking to the band and their serious intentions in the music business, the use of his font could also connote fact, thus telling the reader that what it being said is fact and correct. This white text box will fill ¾ of the right page whilst having the background still visible and have a red housetyle border around it this making it look 3D like it had been stamped on the image like a poster.
Target Audience
Resources And Personnel
In my ALT magazine I will take on the job role of editor, photographer, graphic designer. I will be making sure do these jobs to the best of my ability to make it seem very professional. The hardware needed for me to produce my magazine in the way I want to produce it will have to be to a good standard. An example of what I will need to use is a camera. I will need a camera to take the photos that will be used in the magazine to show a visual representation of the content in the magazine. I want to use a DSLR camera has the visual capabilities to take good photos and are what is used most often to take professional photos. I would hardware like tri-pods to keep my photos in focus and stable. Another use of hardware I will need is a Apple Mac mostly for its software performance. On the Mac I will be able to access all the Adobe products that will make my magazine. Programs like Adobe Photoshop where I can edit my photos I have taken to match my theme. Also with Photoshop I can create my font style and graphics, e.g banners and sell line areas. I will also use programs like Adobe bridge to help find the positioning of where all my photos and text will be. The models I will be using on my front cover is, Harry Vincent, Charlie James and Oliver Credland all being presenting the band of Squarewave. These people will be featured on the front cover and also on the contents and on the DPS the photos for these pages will be a variety of portrait and landscape; all taken on a DSLR camera. They will be in these pages because they are the main feature of the magazine thus connoting they will be on the most pages either highlighted or being the main feature. There will be another person used in my magazine to add more content to my magazine in the contents page.
Distribution And Marketing Methods
The distribution methods I am considering to use is transferring physicals adverts to my audience in specific targeted locations. One example of a location that I may consider is the showroom, I consider this as a option because of the location of where the showroom is, it is in the direct pathway of commuters coming to and from the station, this making the Showroom a cultural Hub for people to briefly socialise, with that in mind they could socialise over my product as the target market for my product have a high likelihood to pick up the product. Another place that would be a good to distribute my product would be in the social areas in genre specific clothing shops, the shop I have in mind is the Thrift Shop in Sheffield, I choose this place because the shop purposely appeals to my demographic. The shop can be also used as social hub for my demographic to social on maybe chairs and tables, on that table my magazine can be their appealing to my demographic. Posters placed around this shop will help market my product as it will be seen as fitting with the style of the shop as the shop appeals to the people most likely to buy the magazine. This can link with the price of my magazine as the prices in this thrift shop will be cheaper than usual so if the price of my magazine will be cheaper to fit in. marketing in this thrift shops can be seen as below the line advertising as a niche audience come into this shop and the fact it is one shop in one location makes the distribution not so big as it is a local magazine. The marketing of magazine in music venues for example Leadmill and Café Totem can create synergy between the two as they are very similar in location and type of music hopefully allowing people to want to have my magazine, for example whilst they are waiting in line to go in.
My circulation and readership figures can link to the locality of the magazine as the magazine is tailored for the local area of Sheffield so the readership figures would not be that high, the figures going to about 100,000 as there is many people in Sheffield however the amount of people genre specific that are considered alternative. the frequency of the magazine would be weekly this increasing the amount of distribution copies.
My magazine could use the local radio to promote itself, this will show the people in the local area where people can buy the magazine and what features it includes. It will be on a local radio station as the my magazine is for the local area because it features local locations with local bands. For example BBC Radio Sheffield would advertise my Magazine because my magazine is locally sold, also having features that will only be appropriate to the people living in Sheffield, for example bands performing at places like the MotorPoint Arena, This could create synergy with print based advertising as print based products such as posters can be put up in the local area in specific locations that create maximum exposure by the public. Synergy is created because the features that are mentioned by the presenter of the radio will also be created in writing on the posters placed on the wall of buildings. This can be effective with targeting my audience as the people that will be seeing this, will also listen to the radio this making them want to buy the magazine more through all the connected ways of advertising.
My magazine could use the local radio to promote itself, this will show the people in the local area where people can buy the magazine and what features it includes. It will be on a local radio station as the my magazine is for the local area because it features local locations with local bands. For example BBC Radio Sheffield would advertise my Magazine because my magazine is locally sold, also having features that will only be appropriate to the people living in Sheffield, for example bands performing at places like the MotorPoint Arena, This could create synergy with print based advertising as print based products such as posters can be put up in the local area in specific locations that create maximum exposure by the public. Synergy is created because the features that are mentioned by the presenter of the radio will also be created in writing on the posters placed on the wall of buildings. This can be effective with targeting my audience as the people that will be seeing this, will also listen to the radio this making them want to buy the magazine more through all the connected ways of advertising.
Specification
