Initial Ideas

1. Initial Ideas • Hannah Currie

2. Introduction • For my main project I have been asked to make a music magazine. To first start this I have decided three ideas of a genre that I want my magazine to follow. I then have to think about the target audience, features, colours and overall layout I want my magazine to follow.

3. Initial Idea 1 • My first idea is to make a pop magazine, that focuses on the music that was popular today. I want the magazine to be called ‘The Reflex’ as this title is a song by Duran Duran who was a pop band from the 80’s. My target audience for this will be for a younger generation of both males and females aged between 12-24 as they will most likely listen to this type of music as it is something they can dance to. In this magazine I will have to use simplistic language and slang as it easier for this age group to understand. As the music will be of pop magazines from the 200’s I want the colours on the magazine to be neon bright so it is noticeable and for a magazine like this it is ok for the colours to clash. For the features within the magazine they are going to be either question and answers or a interview as there is not too much information to read and the readers will be able to find out gossip of a particular celebrity which this age group is interested in. • I want my magazine to look like these Smash Hits magazines as they are very close to the type of magazine that I want to make and have the similar codes and convention my magazine would have. Also they have the same colour schemes of bright colours and over exaggerated cheesy poses in the images.

4. Initial Idea 2 • My second magazine idea is to make an indie magazine. I want the title of this magazine to be ‘Basement’ as I think it is an appropriate name as it reflects the type of music. The target audience for this is both females and males ages between 15-20, this will be an easy age group for me as I am interested in this music and I am also in this age group. For this magazine I can use slang as this is the kind of age group that will understand that type of language. I want to use colours like red and green as they are noticeable but doesn’t take away the focus of the main image as that is the main topic. • I want my magazine to be like NME as this is the style of magazine I am going for as it has all qualities i would want my magazine to have like the colour scheme, images and the kind of information it is going to include.

5. Initial Idea 3 • My last idea is to make a rock magazine I chose to make this because I am interested in this type of music. I want to call my magazine ‘Riot’ because this type of music can be quite brutal to listen to and i think this title reflects that. The target audience of this magazine is both males and females aged between17-22, I think this is the right audience as this type of music has become popular within this age group. The features in this magazine are interviews and question and answer, this is suitable for this target audience as they will want to know the gossip of the band and artists. Finally the colours i want to use are dark colours like black, navy and blood red as theses dark colours are associated with rock. • I want my magazine to be similar to Kerrang as is it the same target audience my magazine is aimed at, it has the same kind of bands and artists that would feature in my magazine and finally has the same kind of colours i want to use within my magazine.

6. Peer Assessment. • ‘ All 3 magazines are really good , all the masthead names are really clever and really well thought about, my two favorites are the first one and the last one, the reasons for these 2 magazines are because i think there has been a lot of thought put into the colours names and how the magazine is going to be set out. I think both of these magazines would sell really well and i also think they’d look really good attracting the target audience and making a good profit’ • ‘I like the idea of the second one I think that the name is really good and I like the fact you no about the music, i think the target audience is really apt and i like how you’ve thought about how you can use the language and how this is going to effect your magazine. Also I think the way you’ve thought about the colours is really clever i like the way the certain colours tie in with the type of music the magazine will be about. • ‘I like the indie one because I think the title is good, the cover idea is good and the target audience will be interesting. I think you could improve on the third magazine as it is too stereotypical and gives this kind of music a negative look, finally the title of this magazine is too brutal and would put me off of picking it up.’ • After reading these three assessments I have decided although the most popular magazine is the indie one I have decided to make the fist idea because I think it will be challenging as well as fun to make, as I listen to this kind of music so I can relate to the readers and know what kinds of things they will want featured in the magazine and what gossip they will want to hear about. I also want to do this magazine as there is a gap in the market for pop magazines for any ages, this means my magazine will more likely be sold as there wont be another magazine out there like mine. Also this means that my magazine will stand out on the shelf as it will be bright and colour and invite readers in opposed to other magazines that are dark and lack colour and only attract certain audiences.