Magazine Flatplan Final

This is my new flat plan which shows the final pages for my magazine which includes ads and editorials. This will help me plan my contents page and how to design it. I also made it simpler than my previous flat plan. I didn't specify what ads are in my magazine because they will not feature in my final product.

Proposal Feedback

I got some helpful verbal feedback from my proposal, one was to change my audience age group from 18-25, as it's a large gap and my magazine wouldn't reach that many people. I have decided to change the age group to 18-23, as it's a smaller gap and my magazine will appeal towards a younger audience.

Another helpful comment was that my masthead was too stylised and didn't fit my house style. This will help me design a new masthead that is similar to other rap magazines like Vibe or XXL.

Another important comment was to have less adverts in my magazine, this is so i can have more editorial content which will help in constructing my contents page. I will alter my flatplan in order to do this.

Overall the feedback was positive and these comments were the only major changes I will make to my plan.

Music Magazine Proposal

Music Magazine Flatplan Progress

This is my flatplan progress and when it is complete it will help me make my contents page and front cover because I will have everything laid out so I know what content to advertise on the front cover and contents page. My final flatplan will be included in my proposal that I created using prezi.

Illustrator practise

In class today we learnt how to use illustrator in order to make our mastheads, this is just a rough version and the final version will be much cleaner and professional. We learnt to adjust size, shape and colour and the lesson was very helpful and I can't wait to make the final version of my masthead for my music magazine.

Magazine Distribution/Newsstand (Task 2)

We had to take a photo of a newsstand and analyse why the magazines are laid out in a certain way. I took a photo of a newsstand in WHS Smith which shows almost the entire magazine, I think this is a better way of presenting magazines as you get the full look and style of the magazine rather than the masthead. The mastheads show what the magazine is about but sometimes the masthead doesn't show completely so by presenting the images and the cover lines, it gives consumers an idea of what they are reading. 

They also are arranged so that they're in front of each other but not directly so that all the magazines are shown to show the number of magazines available and to show all the magazines. Also the magazines in the back are raised to show the masthead and a portion of the front cover image. The skyline is also shown which tells the reader what the magazine is about, for example the NME show mentions artists like Kings of Leon and Green Day, Which clearly presents the genre of the magazine.The magazines are also organised by genre, the top from right to left is organised from Internet to travel magazine. This way its easier to distinguish them.

Overall, the other newsstands I saw in shops like ASDA and other supermarkets were laid out similarly to this and even in smaller shops they were laid out the same way, which shows how this layout is more popular than just showing the top of the magazine. I think however, the magazine's masthead does is more effective at catching the attention of the reader when it's the only thing you can see so it pops out because of the bold, colourful lettering/font.

Magazine Distribution:

The other part of the task is to analyse one of our case studies and how they distribute their magazines. For Vibe which was my case study and most magazines, they use the sale and return method which is when the publisher sells the magazine to the shops and any that they don't sell get returned to the publisher. It is good for the shops because less money is spent, however its not good for the publisher because they haven't sold their magazines.

One way of magazine distribution is ezines, which is not a physical magazine and is an interactive PDF which is mainly done for convenience. However my research shows that Vibe magazine has not produced any ezines  which could be due to the fact that apps can now download magazines to people's phones. However, Vibe's website does have digital covers which people can see and interact with.

Vibe has a website to present all of there content and you can search for issues of their magazines, as well as showing news about celebrities. The website also shows other forms of media such as TV, radio, fashion and movies. The website also offers a subscription to Vibe magazine and advertises their social media accounts. Most music magazines do this because the internet is such an expansive and vast place. http://www.vibe.com/ 

Social media is also very prevalent for music magazine distribution as it gives people direct interaction with the magazine company and has shown to be successful as the Vibe magazine twitter has 680 thousand followers and their facebook page has over one million likes and they feature celebrity, music and movie news such as new album releases. They also link to their website in order to get more visitors which other magazines also do. https://www.facebook.com/vibe  https://twitter.com/vibemagazine 

Most magazines have subscription fees which allows magazines to be delivered directly to the consumer which is convenient and fast and is the most popular form of distribution. Vibe's website advertises these subscriptions but you can also buy single issues of the magazine like anniversary issues.
Freemiums are magazines that are not paid for and this means that circulation numbers are high. They are also handed out at bus stops and train stations which means many people receive these magazines and is a way of mass distributing magazines. An example of a free magazine is NME which increased circulation numbers exponentially. However these have many adverts in the magazines in order for them to make money, freemiums can also be downloaded electronically.

Apps are also a way of distributing magazines and Vibe have an app that is free on itunes and it has had millions of downloads because its free, but this means it has many adverts, its available for Ipads also which you is better for reading a full magazine. Many music magazines do have apps and some are free and this is a very effective way of distribution as modern technology allows people to consume all forms of media quickly and easily. Vibe's app can be found on their website http://www.vibe.com/2012/11/download-vibes-new-smartphone-app-now/ 

Initial ideas for my magazine

In class we wrote down our initial ideas for our music magazine that we will turn into a proposal using prezi that will plan out what our magazine would be like.

College Magazine evaluation

Self Evaluation: I like the colours which kept the look of the magazine simple and I also like the cover photo because of the lighting and it defies conventions of a college magazine in a good way. However, it does look too visually busy in areas because of the cover lines and the picture doesn't suit the look of the magazine. The contents page looks more professional and the colours and font are consistent which add to that look. It also is less visually cluttered than the front cover, however the page numbers aren't lined up properly and the which looks less professional. The image I used for one of my cover lines didn't fit well with the rest of the magazine.

Peer Evaluation: Comments
'You're Front Cover is too clustered and visually busy which may make it unappealing to certain consumers. On the other hand you're choice of image and font are correct and brings the mag to life.'

'I agree with the above statement ... but however there are some positives , for example the image that was taken looks really good and a good you use of a consistent colour throughout the whole page.'

These comments from my blog show the same feelings that I had for my magazine, others had told me my contents page could have more images and I could make it a double page to include more. I have also had comments that say the colours are nice but there should be a three colour scheme and the font could be more professional and less stylised.

Improvements:
I should use more guidelines while making my contents page to make sure the layout is properly aligned and neat so it looks professional. Higher quality images because the one I used did not fit with the aesthetic of the magazine. Use more images in my contents page so it is visually pleasing to the consumer. Better, spaced out cover lines s it doesn't clutter the front cover/cover star, make them a consistent size. Less empty space in the contents page. I could also manipulate the image in photoshop more by using tools like brightness/contrast or the burn/dodge tool on the shadows/midtones/highlights of the photo.

College Magazine Front cover and Contents page (Final)

This is the final product of the front cover of my college magazine and I decided to change the front cover picture because it looked better aesthetically, I used a consistent font to make sure the magazine looks professional, I used outlines to make the cover lines easier to read, and I tried to follow a lot of the conventions of a college magazine like the cover star smiling and directly addressing the camera. I would appreciate any feedback you have in order to ensure that any future work is of a better quality.

This is the final product of the contents page for my college magazine that I made using InDesign and I decided to make it one page as it matches the other college magazines I have looked at. I made the font consistent and tried to match it to the front cover. I also followed the same colour scheme as the front cover which is more professional looking. I didn't use many images as I didn't want the page to be too visually busy. I followed conventions by ordering the contents chronologically and listed all the editorials in the magazine and left out any adverts. I would appreciate any feedback so I can learn anything that will make my future work better.