Task 10 - Formal Proposal

1. Task 10 – Write out a formal proposal. Use the subheadings displayed to make notes.

2. Title of my magazine: Intense! I have chosen this name because I believe it is a suitable name for a Rock magazine as it relates to the Rock genre as the exclamation mark adds drama and creates the loud atmosphere associated with Rock. Also my focus group said this would be a good name as the name Intense! Gives the impression that the magazine is packed full of content and focuses well on the Rock genre. • Explanation of choice of genre: I chose Rock/Punk as my chosen genre because I am currently interested in the Rock/Punk style of music and the artists within this genre. I am especially interested in the bands of this genre as I believe they are inspirational. Also I believe Rock magazines look the most effective and stand out more than any other music magazine. Finally, it was because the people who took part in my questionnaire, my target audience, prefer Rock/Punk artists and music over any other style artists and music, for example Hip-Hop. • Target audience: My target audience are both males and females with a core audience of the age range 16 – 20. I have chosen this target audience because I am within this age range and so I know what this target audience may like to attract them to a Rock/Punk magazine. I also decided on this target audience because most of the people I questioned in my focus group and questionnaire, who were in this age range and male or female, were most interested in the Rock/Punk genre and currently listened to music often so knew what they liked more and a wide range of music artists.

3. Initial ideas about the front page:

4. These front covers (previous page), from the magazine Kerrang! that I am basing my magazine on, appeal to me as the use of bold and bright colours make them eye-catching. Also they appeal to me as these are some of the Rock artists/bands that I am interested in and who I may include/mention on my front cover. Furthermore, the use of dark colours for what the music artists are wearing is what I am will try to use for the people on my front cover as these colours have connotations of Rock. Additionally, I like the consistency of the masthead being in the same font, which relates to Rock, on every issue and the fact that the house style is consistent through the use of the masthead being either white on a black background or black on a white background. Moreover, the image is always centred on the front cover and a medium close-up of the artists looking directly at the reader to make it feel more personal and all of these features of the image is what I shall try to create on my front cover. However, I prefer the covers with more than one person on, e.g. a band to create a friendlier look, as bands were generally the main Rock artists that the people I questioned liked and so this is what I shall try to create on my front cover. I also like the way the front cover has other smaller images on it and flashers to give the impression the magazine has a lot of content which is what I will try to portray as this would then suit what my target audience said about the name ‘Intense!’ connoting full content in a magazine; Again this crammed full impression connotes the loud atmosphere of Rock which is also what I wish to imply. Finally, as I am 16, and therefore in my target audience age range, I believe that they will also find this style of front cover appealing.

5. Initial ideas about the contents page:

6. These contents pages (previous page), from the magazine kerrang! that I am basing my magazine on, appeal to me as the large images at the top stands out and therefore attracts attention and so I will try and use this idea to make sure my contents page stands out. Also they may appeal to my target audience as they are well known Rock artists and again I will try to re-create this by perhaps mentioning well known Rock artists on my contents page. Again the artists are wearing dark coloured clothing which connotes Rock and is something I will try and input on the person/people on my contents page. Furthermore, I like the consistency of the word contents in yellow and the word Kerrang! in white and either on a blue banner or black background; I prefer the yellow on the black background as I believe that relates to Rock more and represents the lively/loud stereotype of Rock and so I will stick to a house style of a certain layout and colours. Additionally, I like the fact that there is always a main image on the contents page at the top, which is where people’s attention is focused, and then there are smaller images placed below, or with the text wrapping around them, portraying that the page is image led which is also something I would like my contents page to be as my focus group and questionnaire answerers (target audience) said that they preferred to see more images than text on a page as that is what interests them most. Moreover, some of the smaller images are of advertisements and not just people which I believe is good as it varies what the reader is focussing on and helps the music industry if these are purchased; I will also use images like this on my contents page for this reason and because my questionnaire answerers mentioned that they would like images of advertisements of merchandise/ticket adverts. Overall, I think the use of smaller images as well, flashers on the contents, an editorial and page summaries under headings gives the impression that there is a lot of content to attract the reader and so I will try and create this look as it will also suit the view, from my focus group, of the name of my magazine ‘Intense!’ and that it has connotations of the magazine being packed full of content. Also I think the use of an editorial is effective as it makes the magazine feel more informal and direct/personal which is what my focus group said they would like in my magazine. Finally, again this crammed full impression suits the stereotypical loud atmosphere of Rock and I believe my target audience will appreciate this as I am also with in my target age range and think this style contents page is effective.

7. Initial ideas about the double page spread:

8. These double page spreads (previous page), from the magazine kerrang! that I am basing my magazine on, appeal to me as they all use large images and bold, bright colours to attract attention and so I will try this idea on magazine d.p.s. The colours used on the page almost suit the artist (s) being interviewed and relate to their style which I will also take into consideration when creating my d.p.s. Furthermore, I like the consistency of the varied colours in the article title and the fact that their is one main, large, image on one page and text on the other page but with more smaller images, with the text wrapping around them, so as to make the page image led which is also what I will try to do as this is what my target audience said related to youth and interested them the most (the page being image led). Also I think the use of pull quotes are effective as it entices the reader to read on and so I think I will use this on my d.p.s. Additionally, I prefer the two d.p.s. with black backgrounds as this has connotations of Rock and is the same background colour that I will be using, in my house style, as I believe it really relates to the Rock genre and therefore, will relate to my target audience as they are interested in Rock. I also like the fact that rule of thirds is used with three equal columns of an average size and font as this makes the layout clear; I will therefore, use this idea as my focus group said they do not like to read too much but they do like to read enough about their favourite Rock artists. Moreover, I will include in my house style on my d.p.s. what kerrang! has and that is a bold and bright drop capital, with a consistent indent, to attract attention and to relate to youth as young people like bright things; this also relates to the loud atmosphere portrayed by Rock. Finally, I believe my target audience will appreciate this overall initial style of a d.p.s. because I am also within my target age range and I find this relates to me effectively.

9. Initial ideas about photographs: • For my front cover I will have a main image of preferably a full length shot of a small group of mixed gender people so that both genders of my target audience can relate to them; they will also be smiling to connote welcome, staring out as if at the readers and positioned appropriately so they can all be seen. I will have two further smaller images, one of a female and one of a male, and they will be long shots or close-ups as I am focusing on their Rock style hair and fashion which means they will be wearing darker clothing to connote Rock or bright clothing, for example red, to connote the stereotypical loud atmosphere of Rock. • For my contents page I will have one main medium close-up image of a female, positioned at the top of the page to suit the style of Kerrang!, so that this is the focus of the page. I will also have two further smaller images; one of tickets and the page number written on it and one of an auto-biography or a biography of a famous Rock artist, to entice my target audience as in my focus group they said the main thing they look for in a Rock magazine is information about their favourite Rock artists. These images will also be there to vary the type of image so that they are not just of people. • For my double page spread I will have the same group of people pictured as on my front cover to make them the feature of the magazine; I will then have two further smaller images of just a couple of people from this previous group so that the page appears image led as I found out in my focus group and questionnaire that this is what attracts my target age range the most and this is also the case for current music magazines who are aimed at a similar target audience to mine. However, in these images the people may have different facial expressions, than that to connote welcome, and perhaps they will be excited expressions to suit the stereotype of Rock/Punk that it implies a lively atmosphere; Also they may possibly have more serious facial expressions, which I have found to be common in many Rock magazines, to portray the stern/uneasy stereotype of Rock and Rock artists.