Scene magazine front cover

After drawing out my flat plans for my magazine and evaluating them, I made it on indesign.

This is my front cover, contents page and double page spread, I have changed some things from my original flat plan to improve it.

I think that my magazine develops forms and conventions of real media products as it does follow the typical indie music magazine conventions. I researches NME and KERRANG which both gave me ideas and inspired me to make my own magazine. Although my magazine chosen music genre is less rock and has a slightly wider range of music shown. For example on the contents page I have a list of artists who aren't all just one genre; one is pop rock whereas one is folk. I did this so that I could appeal to a wider range of people giving a wider audience.

The audience for my media product are young and similar to the band shown on the front cover. I chose a normal, cool and young people to pose as my band so that they will either remind the audience of themselves or they'll want to be like them. The band's style also represents the particular social group that is my audience but they wear black to continue the red and black theme. They enjoy a range of music genres but mainly indie music as that is the genre I have featured on my magazine the most. They will enjoy live music and gigs a lot. They will like the fashion style "scene". I have addressed this type of audience by using the colours red and black throughout the magazine which they'll like but in a trendy way. They are young and I have attracted the young audience by making the price small compared to some monthly magazines but also quite similar to monthly music magazines. Also the free CD and poster will attract the younger audience with a lower income. Within the social grades they will come under the ABC1 social category. My target audience's age is from the ages of 15-35 and with an equal male to female range. To anchor this I have chosen a band with both male and female members so that male readers will want to be like the guys but be with the girl and the female readers will wand to be with the guys but be like the girl. The words of the masthead are slightly wonky and there are white patches over them, this makes it look modern and conventional to the young audience. The band used on the front cover follow this specific style and the audience can relate to them. The camera angle looks up at them to show that they are superior, I got this idea from the NME interview picture of Glasvegas in which they look more superior due to the camera angle. On the double page spread I have chosen the bands' names to be Oscar, Dillan and Indigo. They are quite alternative and modernised names, I chose to do this so that the audience will think they're cool and want to be like them or can see themselves being similar as the band. The font chosen is also quite modern and bold which relates to the audience's style. The language used is again very colloquial and chatty and the type of language the reader themselves will use. I have often chosen to miss out capital letters at the starts of questions and answers which may look cool and colloquial to the reader. The background is black which gives it a modern and contemporary look to relate to the audience. I wanted certain parts of the magazine to stand out more than others, and so put them in different colours so that the readers' eye will be drawn to this part. For example I put the significant word NEW in red and capitals in a wonky line to separate itself from the rest of the writing. T he black outline makes it even more legible. Although the colour goes along with my colour theme, I wanted to use one more colour to make it slightly more interesting, I chose green for the word "festive". the colour relates to the word and stands out even more from the rest of the page. It also relates to the Christmas issue.

Both the magazines that I researched are distributed by big, successful magazine publishing companies. This is one of the main reasons that they are so successful. Therefore I would chose my magazine to be published in a different way with a more independent company. Because I believe that independent monthly magazines can also become successful. This will ensure that the magazine will be more select and original.

The main thing I have learnt about technology by making my magazine is how to use indesign. I am now confident with using the programme even though there is more for me to learn about it. But I could make another magazine and use it on my own without help. I also learnt the layout of a typical magazine and now understand how to do this on indesign. I know more about how to use photoshop as I used this programme with some of my photos, to change them to black and white and/or crop them. Because I used a font for my masthead from dafont.com, I know how to transfer the font into indesign to make it usable. I can now successfully upload photos and blogs onto blogger.com as I had never heard of the sight before.

I have definitely learnt a lot about the music magazine industry and how to construct my own magazine. Before I had no idea as to how a conventional magazine should look. When making my Sussex Downs magazine it was very basic and I have improved greatly on the quality of my work. I think that the process has been successful as has the product.

Scene magazine contents

Scene magazine double page spread

"Scene" flatplan double page spread

This is my double page spread for SCENE magazine. I have chosen to do an interview with the band featured on the front cover. I wrote out half of the interview to get an idea of the type of language I was going to use. Like the language used throughout my magazine I wanted to make it chatty and colloquial, as if the journalist was friends with the band. I want to make the band also sound friendly and funny so that the audience likes them and want to read on.

I may use the red and black colour theme for the questions and answers like I did on the contents page. This will ensure that the magazine can distinguish itself from others and so people will recognise the brand.

I will take three photos for the band one of which, on the left page, will be big alongside the main flash. There will be a main flash to pull the audience in and then a subhead that will make the reader want to continue reading the article. Quotes from the band will also be used to do this.

"Scene" flatplan contents page

For my contents page I am going to use the same style writing as the masthead, to establish the brand and give it a modern look. It is also in a big font to catch the audience’s eye. I want the contents page to be fun to read and have a mini article on it too. There is a feature in the middle which shows different readers of SCENE every month. This will involve the audience and make them feel a part of the magazine and equal to other bands featured in it. The language used in this short interview will be colloquial and chatty so that the audience feels the journalist is friendly and that they can relate to them. By having the number 2 instead of the word also makes the language colloquial. It is also the type of language that the audience would use themselves. The typography will follow the two colours red and black, the questions in red ad answers in black. This is to make it clear and legible. The people on in the photo will be happy and at a gig, this will make the reader relate themselves to them and they'll want to be where they are. There will be eye contact with the audience and the people on the photo to catch the readers eye, but it will be casual a casual and fun picture. The word questions is at an angle and this will anchor the colloquial and fun feel of the article.

I would like this photo to be black and white as with a white backgound it will stand out but also i will continue this theme throughout the magazine.

Every time the masthead SCENE is written, it will be in the same typeface as the title on the front cover, this will establish its brand so that it can be easily recognised. The language used on the strap line at the bottom will be persuasive. This is so it encourages them to subscribe to the magazine and so buy it each month. The exlamation mark also does this.

The line of "top singles" already gives the reader an insight into the rest of the magazine and is another feature to look at on the contents page. There will be a variety of bands to relate to a slightly wider audience but each band will follow the typical music conventions that the reader will enjoy. This line also breaks the page into three colums so that the page does not look too chaotic.
I have already made two mistakes by saying it is a weekly magazine when it is supposed to be monthly, but this means I can change and fix this when making my rel contents page.

"Scene" flatplan front cover

This is the flat plan of my front cover for my magazine that I will eventually be making. I have got ideas and related several features to my research magazine as this will follow the same indie music magazine conventions.

The title is "SCENE" which derived from the popular fashion and music style named which is also named scene among young adults. It has a double meaning and also signifies the scene that the magazine promotes. It is a polysemic sign and it’s also as if the title is saying "this is the scene to be in". The typography of the title is black and bold and makes it stand out to the audience most on the page. I want it to look modern and conventional to anchor the meaning of the title and relate to the young audience. It is bold to be eye catching to the audience and in a significant type face so that people will recognise the brand and this will establish it. I may have some of the title behind the photo, this will show how the audience is expected to already know what it is and make the picture more important. I got this idea from the KERRANG magazine I researched as they also put the title behind the photo.

The band used on the cover shot will follow the specific style so that the audience can relate to them. There will be eye contact with him and the purchaser, this draws the reader in. I chose one man from the band to be on the front cover as he is the lead singer and the person the audience will know most. His style will be similar to the audience’s a mainly male audience will want to be like the person on the front cover and the female audience will want to be with him. He will also be smiling and happy to make the consumer feel happy and then buy the magazine. I wanted the bands' name to sound quite British, modern and like they're a real indie band. The name "The Carnabys" is also a popular street in London, this shows where they are from, but is also quite a fun, conventional to indie music, name. I chose to write “the Carnabys take over London” as they come from London and so it relates to the bands’ name. This is the main flash and so will draw the readers in, so i put it right on the middle and will be in a different colour to the rest of the writing.

There will be a colour theme throughout the whole magazine; red and black. This will relate, appeal to the audience and help establish its brand.

There is a strap line at the top of the magazine which I would like to be a different colour to the rest of the page. This will draw in the readers’ attention. It says “exclusive Cage the Elephant tour dates!” the band will be popular among the audience and so they would want to find out when they are touring. The word exclusive will make the reader want to buy the magazine as they can only find out this information inside SCENE. There will also be a picture of the band so that they see it first as it catches their eye and then read it. This will be repeated with each issue near the brand logo, people will recognise the cover instantly. The “Christmas special” I will put in another bright colour so that it stands out. Probably green as this will relate to the Christmas theme. Also the word special draws in the audience as it sounds as if this issue will be different. The fact that you get a free CD and poster when you get the magazine encourages the audience to buy it. The magazine looks more entertaining than informative and this is anchored by the "chatty", colloquial language used. Also with exclamation marks it looks as if the journalist is excited about the magazine too.

There is a Main sell followed by a picture: "Pete and the Pirates Live" wich will relate to the writing. It indicates content in the magazine and relate to the other bands featured on the cover.

I placed the bar code away from the cover shot and centre of the cover, so it does not distract the audience's attention. The price is quite average/cheap for a monthly magazine but also shows that enough work has gone into the magazine so that it is good.