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.