Mock ups

COVER:

 CONTENTS:

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD:

My Photos!

Here I took close up photos, she is wearing plummy tones which I thought attracted a more female target audience.

Here I took mid shot photos. She is wearing a brightly coloured scarf which includes bright greens, blues and pinks, I felt these colours associated more with a pop genre as they are vibrant. 

In these photos she has a strong pose however I disliked the lighting in this photo as her face look quite highly saturated, also it is less engaging then the close ups as she is looking more engaged or directed to the camera/audience.

Here are more close up shots. She is wearing subtle/ pastel colours in these photos as suggested by the focus group. I put flowers in her hair to give a more feminine appeal to the image.

Overall I felt that the first set of photos using the plum colours worked better as they were more stronger. The plum colours stand out better and looked more fierce and dominant photos whereas the pastel colours and props portrayed her as vulnerable looking.

Reader Profile

Who is my target audience?

My pop magazine is going to be aimed at mostly teenagers from 16 years, I have chosen this target audience because the focus group and analysis shows there is a gap in the market as the majority wanted to buy it. In addition, I have already conducted primary research to find out about my audience.
  Furthermore pop magazines are also called 'teen magazines' meaning that many teenagers are interested in pop music. In addition the teen magazine industry is female orientated suggesting that the majority of females are interested in pop magazine. This tells me that most of the audience are females, although this could be because most pop magazines aim at females such as ' we love pop '.However pop magazines don't really tend to reach out to the male market because it is smaller and more difficult to appeal to them. Although, we know there is a male market for pop magazines out there as there are many pop artists who have a male fan base, however the female fan base is bigger as they are more interested in the pop genre and pop artists e.g. one direction. I personally think that Billboard magazine doesn't aim at a particular gender, the colours are usually suited to both genders.

To conclude I am going to aim my music magazine at teenage females as they are more interested in pop genre.

Font testing

                           

Market Deco: It consists of only capitals which would be ideal for the masthead. The font is bold and therefore eye-catching. It is simple, clear and looks modern so is good for attracting a younger audience. 

Stainy: It's much more curvy writing but is considered to be unisex as although it is italics it uses straight lines and is quite sleek.

Moon Flower: This font is also only in capitals. Although the lines are very think and I don't think this is bold enough for the magazine in comparison to Market Deco font.

Andes: It is very stylish font and adds character to the font however it is quite difficult to make out some letters such as the N.

Coolvetica: This font included both lower case and capital letters and is bold.

Colour testing

Colour connotations:

RED:

Red is a strong colour and has many connotations such as love,blood, anger and lust. These associations suggest its a very emotionally intense colour. It's usually linked to lust and love because of 'the lady in red' who is a temptation of lust. In addition because of red its satanic representations it is seen as angry colour. The religious connotations which portray it as a satanic colour can also link red to hellish and can be connected to fire.
The high visibility of red means that is used to show awareness and is linked to danger therefore is used on warning signs, this means it is a stand out colour and could be a reason why it is used for 'click here' or 'buy now' buttons; this furthermore conveys it as a colour which stimulates people to make quick decisions. 
Red is also a dominant colour that can be associated to royalty that can associate with power, deeper colours of red are thought of as luxurious such as velvet.

From these connotations, we know that red is seen as quite a sinful and violent colour it mostly represents negative imagery such as hell, lust, anger, death, the devil and danger. 

    

The colour red is stereotypically used in rock magazines such as 'NME' as rock music is quite aggressive and harsh. It is commonly used with blacks to portray a gothic image as blacks are dark and red represents blood, furthermore is easy to contrast and stands out well.

PINK:

Pink is a lighter form of red which means it holds less aggression than red, this may portray it as a softer colour. Pink is associated to femininity probably because it is seen as a soft tone; this could be why it is used for many pop magazines such as 'sugar' and ' we love pop' as pop magazines are aimed at mostly females; ' we love pop' uses the pink to represent love. Sugar uses pink to represent the title which means there is an interlink between pink and sugar, this could convey pink as a sweet and innocent colour. 
Because of this femininity link, the portrayal of pink is the same as the portrayal of females such as nurturing and compassionate. Pale pinks link to softness and calmness it is often use on baby lotions eg. Johnsons.

PURPLE:

Purple is considered artificial as it is not seen in natural imagery this suggests it to be mystical and magical; this could be why it's often used for children products such as sweet packaging- 'cadburys' etc. In addition, about 75% of children say their favourite colour is purple. Purple is seen in the universe such as galaxy's which symbolises it as mysterious and unusual.
Purple is quite rare when used in the music magazine industry, this could be because purple is seen as a childish colour therefore doesn't appeal to an older target audience. However it can be seen as an older colour as it portrays wisdom and nobility.
Purple is a rich colour and links to luxury, because of the connotations to luxury, purple can give quality to a cheap product. Overall purple is liked by a high proportion of teenage girls : ( Cadbury's chocolate is also targeted at a large number of females).

BLUE:

Unlike purple, blue is seen as a natural colour, it represents the colours of sea, ocean, sky and water; this represents it as a calming colour and peaceful. Because of it's natural imagery, light blues are seen as a pure colour and it's association to water portrays it as cleanly. Light blues are subtle and soft they are usually associated with healing and tranquillity. Blue's can represent a sad emotion. Dark blues symbolise confidence, power and authority. On the whole, blue is a positive colour as it is subtle, calming and welcoming.
Blue is a contrast to red and represents cold colours - this contrast is given in vibe magazine. Vibe magazine often uses darker shades of blue which suggests it is more of a hip hop colour. Blue is considered a masculine colour and could be why it is used by vibe magazine as they have a higher male audience. It is a contrast to pink gender wise therefore the portrayal of blue is similar to the portrayal of the stereotypical male such as strong and dominant.

GREEN:

Green holds environmental associations as it is the colour of most natural imagery such as trees, grass and flowers; it symbolises growth, freshness and harmony. It is a contrast to red in terms with safety and danger; red represents warnings and green is a symbol to show safety/ security for example the traffic lights mean it is safe to 'go'. Because green is used in 'go' sign and arrows it can also symbolises movement.
Dark greens have stronger negative connotations such as the feelings envy and greed as green is associated to money. Green can also be a representation of power as money is linked to power.Overall Green is a positive colour as like blue it represents positive connotations. The darker greens have increasing intensity from the lighter shades.

Green is used in mostly country magazines as it links to the country feeling and represents the outdoors and a fresh environment. It is not commonly used by other genres in particular.

                     

YELLOW:

Yellow has positive connotations for example is usually linked to a happy emotion, it is warming and welcoming.
Yellow is linked to rejuvenation which is why it is commonly used in beauty products.
However it has negative connotations too, the colour seems distasteful to men because of it's 'cheap' connotation.
Yellow is a warming colour which usually symbolises the sun and energy hence why it is commonly used on food packaging/ industries such as McDonalds. Yellow is seen colour which implies safety and stability as it is used on road signs - an opposite connotation to red. However, although it is seen as a safe colour it can be quite a risky colour to use as it is very striking and eye-catching, and can clash with many colours.

Yellow might have been used on this magazine cover to represent James Blake's character/ personality as happy and optimistic; to create a balance in contrast with his facial expression which is quite glum, this also represents yellow as a cheerful colour. In addition creates more of a pop magazine whereas if other colours were used with his facial expression it might have looked more of a rock genre and misrepresent the artists. The yellow is very eye-catching and represents the masthead 'clash' well as it is an onomatopoeia, in comic books onomatopoeias use primary colours to make it distinctive and stand out, therefore creates distinction. 

ORANGE:

Orange has similar connotations to yellow, however is less cheerful than yellow as it is fading into more red tones which link to more negative connotations. Therefore Orange is quite a balanced colour and can be considered as also safe, in addition is used as a 'ready' sign on the traffic lights which suggest it to be safe. The links to safety imply comfortability. Orange is an energetic colour and is used on energy drinks such as fanta etc.

WHITE:

White symbolises purity and is associated with cleanliness. It is a neutral colour and not that risky to use however can lead to blandness. It can be seen as quite a boring, blank, not very eye catching however when contrasted with other colours it can be seen as a stand out colour. It doesn't really link to many emotions other than calmness and peacefulness. It has connotations of modernity and sleekness.

BLACK:

Black is seen as a formal colour in advertising, although it is traditional it adds class to an advertisement.
It can be linked to dark connotations as it is a dark colour for example death and evil. it is a gothic colour and symbolises grief.