Extra Research in planning creation of Magaizne

These are some links and extra sources I have found useful in preparation for creating my music magazine: 

http://www.magazinedesigning.com/magazine-spreads-good-bad-practices/

Readers eye direction

When influencing on the reader your design should have meaning. Readers concentrate on the top parts of the spread. This is the first place where their eye will stop when they skim through the pages, so you cannot start your story by placing headline on bottom right page. This is not natural starting point.

I have seen this in so many examples, but try to avoid it. It is not good design if the reader has to search through the page to find most important thing (if there is no image on the page), and that’s the headline. It is even worse if you put the headline at the bottom and you put beginning of the story on top of it.

This is not a natural way of reading the story. Everything should have flow. You should work your way from the meaningful top left and then continue to the bottom. Headline, intro copy and then the main copy. That should be your guide.

In this case it is OK to place the headline at the bottom. Reader will have no problem following the story, besides, it would be awkward to place the headline on top of the model’s head.

This is the natural way of viewing things, unless designer pulls his attention away by placing elements on the page that will attract the reader’s eye. Sometimes headline can go on the bottom part of the page if this pages has full-page image that bleeds out of the page.

This is an example of bad text flow. You can see how the flow of the story is not natural and the reader will have hard time following the text.

The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Artist Albums of 2014 so far!

02/10/2014

By Rob Copsey

Ed Sheeran’s X and Sam Smith’s In The Lonely Hour lead a very British line-up in the biggest-selling artist albums of 2014 so far, OfficialCharts.com can reveal.

Ed Sheeran’s X has overtaken Coldplay’s Ghost Stories as the biggest selling artist album of 2014 so far, according to Official Charts Company data.

This success means the acclaimed album has now been certified 2x Platinum by the BPI - the music trade body that represents the UK's record labels.

Ed said: “I’m so happy people have been enjoying my album so much - great to hear that it’s still the biggest seller of the year and has now gone double Platinum too. Looking forward to playing it live to my UK fans when the tour starts next week!"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/singles

http://www.magazinepublisher.com/startup.html

The Planning Phase:

With the technological advancements in magazine printing presses along with the ability to design magazines in digital computer programs has made for the ability of magazines to become more profitable in smaller circulation numbers.

Still every magazine success comes down to this simple fact:

What are the costs associated with publishing?
vs.
What are the total revenues earned?

The two tests that you need to prepare are:

#1 Evaluate your projected revenue#2 Analyze your magazine operational costs

Sources of Revenue:

Magazines are still driven by three main sources of revenue:

#1 Advertisers - (who buy ads) #2 Subscriptions - (people who pay to receive the magazine)
#3 Newsstand Sales

There are a wide range of different kinds of magazines incorporating various combinations of revenue sources- local, free pick up magazines that rely totally on ad revenue to the niche subscriber magazines that carry no advertising and rely totally on subscriber and ancillary sources of revenue. Ancillary income is any additional source of revenue gained by marketing or selling products or services associated with a magazine title. An example would be t-shirts with the magazine's logo.
To be successful publisher's need to address the following:

A. Is there a market big enough to support the magazine?
B. Are there subscribers willing to pay for such a magazine? and how much are they willing to pay ?
C. Are advertisers interested in reaching this market and willing to pay for ads to do so?

Determine the costs associated with publishing your magazine title and then you will have a good barometer of how much revenue you will need to cover those costs...the average magazine can take years to become profitable - so you need to be prepared to have plenty of financial resources to cover the costs during the start up period of building your magazine brand to profitability.


https://www.apple.com/uk/itunes/charts/songs/

Billboard Magazine Double Page Spread Examples

I have gathered examples from both magazines double page spreads to be able to see what house style appeals to me more, and also how I can choose elements that I do and do not like to help me decide on how to layout my own double page spread. I am able to easily compare house styles and layout to give me inspiration on how to create my own double page spread.  

Billboard Magazine Double Page Spread

For this task I took a double page spread from Billboard magazine which featured Breakthrough act of 2012 - The Lumineers an indie folk band who sold over 6 million albums that year. This issue with the band on thier sucess within that year. I have included a collage of what the article looked like on my iPad, I simply was able to screen shot the article and examine it in detail for this task; it includes a cover image of the band which takes up 100% of the page with their name in bold writing following the acutal double page spread.

The article features the band "The Lumineers", I can tell the genre off this band by the way they dress in the images. In a traditional quirky, casual bohemian look which consists of dark and simple colouring, I am able then to deduce that the band has an indie folk flair, indicating to me that the target audience are of similar preferences so that this style and genre of music will appeal to them in particular.  The spread includes the introduction of the band members, there rise to fame, their critically acclaimed albums and production of music ladi and spoken in a way which is clearly relaxed and chic, which again compliments there bohemian vibe. 

Beginning with a large drop cap "T" which takes up majority of the page, our eye flow allows the reader to be instantly directed to the beginning of the article. The interviewer has written this text in a story like manner, using sometimes actual quotes from the band but keeping it in such a way that seems almost like a nostalgic thought, again inkeeping with the band unique chilled vibe which their fans appreciate. The writer explains how they rose to fame "The 5th of Dec episode of the CW's "Hart of Dixie" was going to be the first place much of America would hear their single "Ho Hey."' This is quite formal language with no real colloquial terminology perhaps to portray an element of professionalism on behalf of the magazine; however there is nothing really that would not be accessible to read for all walks of life, therefore would not just appeal to fans of The Lumineers but for all to enjoy and read. This article can be seen as the inside scoop for readers to find out how this band came big, by sharing their story people will feel apart of it too - like they have been told it directly. This then gives a personal relationship between reader and feature.

Much white space is used in this article to portray that the most important elements within the article is within the text. However they do use a slight collage on the right side of the second page to illustrate not only an aural understanding of what the band are about but also show what they look like and gain a visual understanding. The typeface is New Times Roman which is black and stands well out against the pure white background, this is a very plain and simplistic as the magazine does not need vibrant colouring to distract the reader from what they see as important information. The article is extremely to read and navigate as there is only one column on each page with everything spilt up into different paragraphs. However I would like to start off each of my paragraphs within my music magazine maybe using a smaller drop cap than the first in perhaps different colours to emphasise each one more prominently.

On the right hand side of the first page there is a little column titled "Team Lumineers" - this is little boxes aside form the proper article which tell the reader information on their album, label, management, booking, publicity, attorney, sites and twitter account; which is done for people to be lured in to find out more about the bands music and to gain a bigger following especially on social media, cleverly done as this a multi-national magazine within America, meaning majority of American viewers would come across it everyday.  

Throughout this double page spread there is a consistent house-style which consists of the colouring of basic black and white, this is the intention to lure in more indie, alternative folk readers that are suggestive of this genre. The images used also support the dark plain house-style again in keeping with the chilled relaxed vibe of the band. Billboard magazines revamp in style is contemporary and stylish by only including the minimal number of images and a lot of text to thereby keeping readers directed on the information and not just flick through to look at the images. 

Overall this double page spread is extremely simplistic with little colouring, easy navigation and little images.  

Q Magazine Double Page Spread Analysis

This is a double page spread from Q Magazine featuring Welsh singer/songwriter, actress and TV presenter Charlotte Church, in this interview she speaks of her times as a singing teen to what she looks forward too in the future. By doing the analyse's of this double page spread I am able to explore and evaluate the features and elements such as the house style, typeface, layout and colouring that I personally like and can possibly get inspiration from to add into my own music magazine. 

Q Magazine Cover Anaylsis

I have evaluated these particular covers of artists that I personally like as I wanted to write a detailed analysis of what was included in different articles of two different genres of music to get myself thinking of elements and features I would like to have in my own music magazine. In later tasks I can then look back at this and see what and how this multi-national magazine portrays its artists and features. 

Q Contents Page Analysis

This is Q Magazines front cover with its corresponding contents page. Q Magazine is a British based music magazine which began in 1986 and is published on a monthly basis. As displayed the feature is of Lana Del Rey - a popular american singer/songwriter who is the main focus of both the cover and the contents page. Although the colour scheme from the contents page does not match the cover directly, it still has elements which highlight the running theme of this issue ie; the images and the dominent colour of red. 

The largest image of the contents page is a extreme close up section of the artists face, from a male gaze this image can be quite seductive as it will give an intensity to the reader as she looks directly into the camera, hence this allows a relationship or feeling of inclusion to build between the feature and the magazine. She also seems to be bleeding from her right upper temple which parallel well with the cover title of "So what's so bloody good?" this running theme therefore reminds the reader of the main cover title as we can associate it with the largest image. This image also has a number written in white clear typeface inside a deep red square -  this is the most prominent page number within the contents page as it is the main feature and will be what majority of their audience for this issue will be buying the magazine for - to find out the latest about Lana Del Ray. 

The title of the contents page is in front of a plain white crisp background, done so that any darker shades put in front of it will stand out, in large font it titles "Q Contents." The letter Q is directly sued as the magazines logo which is a red box with a white Q - this is a well established music magazine claiming to be 'UK's biggest music magazine' therefore this iconic symbol will be a denotation code for their loyal readers. The colour scheme is also an important factor, it consists of reds, whites, blacks and any other colouring is from the photographed images, these simple primary colours stick to the main roots of the magazine who have always upheld this image. It is very minimalistic which achieves a house style of class and structure. 

The layout of the magazine is extremely orderly and has an essence of professionalism, this is a well established magazine and we as there readers would expect nothing less. The features are clearly stated within the magazine, however some titles are more emphasised than others as the publishers have manipulated the typeface to be bolder or larger so what they believe to be important issues are instantly directed upon their readers ie; '140 Songs To Download Now!'. In simple easy read san serif typeface all text is written in separate sections or anchoring an image relating to the issue. Majority of the text colours are black however under the image if the men dressed as bears with umbrellas there is a blurb in red, this is used to attract the attention of the reader. 

The mode of this issue is to be contemporary whilst staying sophisticated, this issue would target mainly Lana Del Rey's fan-base who are male and female from the ages of 14 - 30, however all lovers of music can be enticed into this magazine by contents such as interviews with rock bands (Kings Of Leon) or R&B hip hop artists (Jay Z and Kayne). Throughout the contents page there is no real distinguish in gender, there is a large close up of the female artist, however the other three images are all of males - this magazine is predominately based on the male demographic so this is a reason for using masculine colours such as black and red to entice these readers in enhanced by the use of majority male repensentation in the images. 

The contents images are of new upcoming artists and bands, this is to support the idea that Q magazine is aimed at a youthful, vibrant yet sophisticated audience - perhaps ranging from late teens to early thirties, who love music and are interested in the latest news in the music industry today. This also backs the mode of address for the magazine, the language used within the contents page is very informal, colloquial and straight forward to read. They speak to their audience in a way which is not patronising however still friendly but in a welcoming manner, this adds an element of fun, the reader can then believe this will be a exciting, positive magazine to read ie; "Plus: Two men dressed as bears!".

The other two images on the contents page are of British songwriter/rapper Professor Green and American rock band Kings of Leon. The mid shot image of the band is very dark and mysterious, this would be attractive for the readers who enjoy this type of music as the band members are all looking directly at the camera, this will create a sense for the reader as they are been directly looked upon, therefore feeling obliged to read the article, however the mid shot full length image of the laughing Pro Green contrasts as it seems much more relaxed. This laid back look welcomes a reader and entices them to 'sit back, and relax.' Each section within the magazine has a separate feature with a red title to make it eye catching and stand out contrasting with the black blurbed text and white foreground; all blurbs under the main headings are very simplistic, by not including a mass of information readers will want to flick through and find the article to finish it. It will also be easy to navigate as there are large boxes with the page number in a bold white typeface. 

Contents Page Collage For Q and Billboard Magazine

This is 10 different contents pages from Q Magazine and Billboard magazine, I have completed this so I can get an understanding of the different layouts and house styles the magazines use to differentiate from each other in such a competitive market. Also to get inspiration for when I want to design my own music magazine.  

Billboard Contents Page Analysis

This is the contents page of Billboard magazine and its corresponding cover page. It is clear that the cover page links well with the contents page as the same colour scheme is used throughout. this establishes a house style altered to match the features image, this is am element that readers of Billboard magazine expects and immediately defines their unique house style. The layout of the contents page is very organised, neat and sophisticated. This vibe of organisation lets the reader feel that all the features are easy to manage and access by corresponding images, anchors and page numbers. The main colour scheme of the magazine is a rich orange tinged mustard colour with a dominent black and a luminous white, this is mainly used for the text and to emphasise stories and make them the focus, however we are drawn to the deep red box which is listed second on the feature section. 

Our eye is caught on the largest photograph as it is an image of 'The Lumineers' who are the main feature artist of this issue, they are seated on a sofa looking quite relaxed and calm, this laid back feeling represents the bands aim and attitude towards their music. The other photographs of stars are rolled down along the bottom of the page, they all include a short cover title with an anchoring brief blurb on the segment included with one image of each person/artist it relates too. Using a variety of different artists such as Taylor Swift, 50 - Cent, Warren Hayes etc... allows the magazine to open is readership to a much wider audience as they are able to cover a wide range of music (Country to Rap/R&B.) 

The Magazine has three sections which are titled "Charts" "Features" and "Department" and in case of this issue a special on indie rock band "The Lumineers", This keeps the layout easy to understand 

and establishes a firm house style that the reader would expect to see running throughout the magazine.  All the images running along the lower half of the contents page are close ups so the reader can depict their facial expressions and feel a relationship with that certain artist, Billborad have purposely chosen majority of the images to not be giving direct eye contact to readers, this is only used for the image of "The Lumineers" and "Marshall Crenshaw" as the magazine see these as important sections within this magazine and deserve the most attention, so both of there images use direct eye contact to build a relationship with the reader.  

I really like the simple easy layout of this contents page, everything is chronologically ordered and this gives off vibes of clean cut and sophistication, this is defiantly an element I would like to protray in my own music magazine. I believe that having correlating images and text along side each other avoids over complication, I will however be making page numbers on my music magazine a lot larger as this is an important element. 

Billboard Magazine Covers Analysis

By analysing these front covers I am able to have a deeper understanding of the magazines house style, their target audience for different features and how they layout and portray language and images to suit different images.

Billboard (stylised as billboard) is an American music magazine, headquartered in New York City, and is owned by Prometheus Global Media. It was first published on November 1, 1894, and is distinguished as being the oldest trade magazine in the world.

This is a new modern masthead for ‘billboard’ magazine, it’s simple lower case letters with a plain san serif bold type face which is vibrant red colour. When changing the logo/masthead the company didn’t make drastic changes, as they believe "Billboard has a more central role in pop culture than any mere trade magazine. It's an American icon, like the Coke Bottle." Therefore we as the reader will easily notice this magazine from its bold colour and simply read typeface, we are expected to recognise such an iconic magazine just by the masthead.

For each issue of the magazine they place the masthead running along the left hand side of the magazine, also depending on the background or feature they display they alter the colour of the mast head, this is done to show more versatility in the house style of the magazine, that minor changes can be made like the colour and the magazine can still be easily recognisable. The main image is a low angle mid still of four young males apart of the pop punk band ‘5 Seconds Of Summer.’ Each individual within the image are enhanced by a bright white luminous background, which helps to create focus on the main image. They are all looking directly into the camera each with different facial expressions that parallel to their different personalities, this laid back, cool, contemporary feel entices young readers as they feel directly ‘pointed at’ by the top left image or directly ‘seen’ by the band creating a personal impact upon the reader which will make them want to read the magazine and find out more. The font on the cover is plain, simple and easy to read; the colour scheme of black and red dominate outwards from the pure white background. The white background may suggest that this band are new, fresh, upcoming talent/music and the red and black is used to correlate with the band own colour scheme and for a more masculine feel to the magazine which will also entice a male audience to read it, this therefore opens up the magazine readership to a wider audience as there is nothing on the cover colour wise or representation to suggest this is a magazine only for female readers.

Published on a monthly basis, Billboard magazine aims their target audience to all lovers of modern music of all genres. Connotations of the name Billboard would relate to Billboards which are used to display or advertise different artists to the public or the Top Billboard 100 or 200 songs list which is based on digital sales, internet streaming and radio play regardless of genre. In this issue of the magazine the Australian based pop/punk/rock band ‘5 Seconds of Summer’ are the main image and the main feature, this new upcoming band are extremely popular with young females between the ages of 8 – 20, therefore for this issue young females would be their target audience. 

The cover is mainly focused on the image and feature of the band, the language code of the magazine is very simplistic, used for younger readers - the colour scheme runs throughout of red, black and white, these colours are used as they will be dominating over the white background. The bold san serif typography again is used to be easily read; '5 Seconds Of Summer... and counting' this feature title uses pun to make it fun and energetic for the reader using the bands name with a coming saying, they may suggest they are are 'counting' on the band to become bigger and better. 'Screaming fans, sold-out shows and No. 1 album: inside the wild European with a pop punk band of boys [Just don't call them a boyband] this anchors the feature title which tells the reader little about the bands achievements, this relaxed, chilled vibe lets the reader feel the same. The text consists of  three cover lines on the cover and they all include elements of colloquial language relating universally to all ages, they are extremely brief with no linking images for the reader, this is done purposely as a enticement technique as readers will want to look inside the magazine at the other features with are included as the cover give no hints or indication of the content within.

The cover overall is extremely plain and defiantly has a complete focus on their title artists as majority of their covers the image of the feature takes up to 70/80% of the page. The simplicity of the cover is a running theme throughout all issues of the magazine which gives off a polished, clean cut magazine that is relatable to all music lovers.  

Billboard (stylised as billboard) is an American music magazine, head quartered in New York City, and is owned by Prometheus Global Media. It was first published on November 1, 1894, and is distinguished as being the oldest trade magazine in the world. The magazine also published sectors to Entertainment Weekly, Vibe Magazine and Complex Magazine. An issue of the magazine is published every month. 

This magazine is called ‘Billboard’ which holds connotations to the Top Billboard of 100/200 songs, and also billboards which are used to steam media to a wide audience. This magazine is focused on all genres of music, from old vintage rock to more modern R&B – the wide range of genres this magazine showcases allows to create a large readership and interest for majority of music lovers could find something tasteful to them. 

The front cover of this issue of Billboard magazine is famous American No. 1 recording artist, dancer and actor Chris Brown. He has a world wide fan base of males and females from the ages of 12+, hence this would be the magazines target audience. They shoot Brown in an attractive way to entice female readers, but also have a male gaze upon the magazine as the colour scheme is based on quite masculine neutral colours. This balance of gender representation will entice both sexes and increase readership. 

The cover has a very neutral colour scheme, the outside of the cover is edged with a dark musty green however it fades inwards to a creamy lime green, the artist is also dressed in this colour scheme with white shirt an combat green jacket with a black hat. His tattoos are a stark focus within the image, we are drawn to them as he displays his chest, we also get a sense of his style fashion and music by his body art and accessories (eg - hat, necklace, nose ring) this quikery style is intriguing for readers as it is unique to the artist. His face is facing the left with his two hands grasping his shirt open, his eyes shut – this may be a mid shot taken in motion, perhaps when he was dancing. The portrayal of this still is quite ‘in the moment’ through his dance he conveys expression of passion and concentration hence why the eyes are shut. Chris Brown is also the main focus of the magazine as his image takes up 80% of the cover and is in front of the mast head text; the audiences first impression of the issue will be on him, however the mast head or magazine will not be damaged as this is an iconic magazine that has been running for over 100 years therefore people are obliged to recognise it instantly.

The san serif type face of all the text featured is extremely simplistic, easy to read and organised. The mast head is a translucent white shade so we can see the foreground of the magazine whilst the text surrounding the image is a crisp pure white which juxtaposes well from the dark neutral colour scheme. The text on the cover is very minimalistic, there is not much more features on the cover as the magazine publishers want this issue to be highlighted and recognised as an [EXCLUSIVE] – this exclusivity is created to inure readers and audience numbers, clearly Chris Browns actions in the past had high speculation, by the magazine getting an interview with him is bond to increase sales as people want to know the inside story. The magazine headline the feature with a pull quote from his actual interview – “Maybe I Was Out Of Control” this lets the reader have a taste of what to expect within the article, we get an understanding of his attitude and personal feelings toward the subject. ?The reader feels that he is speaking directly to us and therefore they feel a personal obligation to read the magazine. This is continued by the small cover line blurb explaining more context of the piece - ‘Chris Brown on Rihanna, life behind bars, his growing faith and facing – finally – his demons in his first post-jail interview’ by adding this in it raises questions within the readers mind which by reading the article they shall be answered. The language used in this feature can be understood by all, extravagant language is not used as this magazine wants to speak to a wide variety of people who are interested in music, by having the language colloquial it allows the magazine to be accessible to all.

There are no other images/graphics on the cover, this is purposely done to create a visual sense of professionalism, the simple layout and minimalistic features all the magazine to look expensive, clean cut and slick. However they do include two noticeably smaller features at the bottom left corner of the cover - ‘Whats behind Cee Lo’s downward spiral?' and 'Inside Taylor Swifts best week ever’ by adding these it will create depth to the magazine so not only Chris Brown fans can be enticed but also members who like Cee Lo Green and Taylor Swift who are also world wide recording artists, by using different types of artists this highlights the vast variety of music that the magazine deals with (Soul to Country Pop). 

Magazine Collage Front Covers for Billboard and Q

These are my personal top picks in magazine covers from both Q and billboard magazine. I created these collages by using a website called www.collage.com; I completed this as I wanted to get a grasp of Billboard magazines unique minamalistic housestyle and there use of language. And compafre it with Q's busy vibrant housesytle and how different there use of language was. From both of these I am able to choose and identify the elements that I would consider adding into my own Music Magazine.

Billboard Media Pack and Q Magazine Media Pack

Media packs are used in "business environments, is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials of a person, company, or organisation distributed to members of the media for promotional use. They are often distributed to announce a release or for a news conference or shared online." I was able to upload both the Q and Billboard magazine Media Packs by using DocStoc.com which helped me embed both easily on to my blog.

Music Magazine Research