Audience Survey

We created a survey for our audience to fill out. Using the information and feedback we received , we were able to incorporate this into our production process.

NME Front Cover Analysis

Billboard Front Cover

Billboard is a hip-hop based magazine that recognises artists within this genre. I have chosen to analyse Billboard as our group are considering a black and white background. This has been done here for visual effect as the pop of colour in the masthead contrasts with the plain background. The black and white background also allows the readers to focus on the main image, which is of the artist. The layout of text is simple, with one side containing heavier text then the other. All the headings of the headlines have been highlighted in yellow so that they jump out at the reader. 'Drake' has been placed on the bottom left corner of the magazine in a large font so that the reader understands that Drake is the main feature of that specific issue. The masthead is a simple sans serif font, so the colour within it has been used to attract readers and to give it a unique selling point. The sans serif font also gives us an indication of whom this magazine is appealing to as it looks quite urban and bold, suggesting that it is catered for a younger market. An extreme close-up of the artist has been used and he is looking right into the eyes of the reader, making the magazine appear more personal. Also, this direct contact entices the reader into purchasing the magazine.

Front Cover Layout

The above image is the proposed layout for the front cover of the magazine. Although this is only rough, it gives us an indicator of what our front cover will potentially look like. Our group have integrated the typical conventions from music magazines into our layout. This will ensure that our final piece will look like a very professional and successful music magazine. The layout is quite simplistic in that we want our picture to be the main feature and very striking. The masthead has been placed at the top of the page, which is relevant to today's magazines, whatever genre. Also, the main image will be covering the masthead as this is a main convention and is trendy in upcoming magazines. The feature at the bottom of the page will be a banner, advertising tickets and current artists. Our group felt that this will contribute to making the magazine very visually appealing, as this is key considering our target audience which are young people.

We have pitched both our initial ideas and this layout to our peers and received positive feedback. Therefore, we will be using this layout as a guide when constructing our front cover.

Ideas For Colour Schemes

So far, I have decided to use three main colours for my magazine, which are; Red, Black and Blue. I will incorporate this colours into the main aspects of my magazine as it will help to identify it. Sticking to a colour scheme is very important within the magazine industry, as it not only makes a magazine unique, but also makes it look neat and sophisticated. In terms of my decision, I have limited my colours so that the magazine does not look too messy. Also, these three colours create a pop and give off a good vibe, which would in turn attract many readers. The main target audience are people in Britain, which these three colours represent quite well, therefore would help us t target our desired audience.

Magazine Logo

This is the magazine logo that our group have decided to use. The logo conforms to the typical notions of a music magazine based on our research. This is because the logo appears very striking due to the contrast of the red and white. The font that we have used is Futura Condensed Extra bold as it was very popular in our survey and appears the most appropriate.
The house style of the magazine will be revolved around three colours; red, blue and black. These colours have been specifically incorporated into the logo to so that people will immediately be able to associate the logo with the magazine.

The effect of the dot is to make a statement. It creates a contrast and brings a unique element to the magazine, bringing the logo together.

Overall, the logo seems very appropriate for the magazine as the bright colours connotate positive images and the size and type of font fits the typical conventions of a music magazine.

Choosing a Font

When choosing a font for the magazine, it was vital that our group considered our intended target audience and brand name. In correspondence with the name FUSE, our font style needed to match the feel of the magazine; fun, vibrant and bold.

From research of music magazines, sans serif fonts seem to be the most popular and appropriate for music magazines, as they give a sense of informality within the magazine. This market research meant that this affected our decision on what font to use. All the fonts used in the survey were therefore sans serif.

We conducted the survey on 20 people within and without the class to get a variety of opinions. A vast majority of the people surveyed said that they preferred Futura Condensed Extra Bold to any of the other fonts. As it is important to listen to market research, we have decided that we will use this font for our magazine.