Unfinished double page spread

This is my double page spread so far which I have been making using Photoshop.

Unifinished Contents Page

This is my contents page so far which I have been making using Photoshop.

Unfinished Front Cover

This is my front cover so far which I have been making using Photoshop. 

Summary of Research and Planning

I have researched existing music magazines of my proposed genre to help me create an idea for my own magazine. This has helped me because I could see how they attract their various target audiences, as well as their use of color schemes and images and the effectiveness of this. I am hoping to use this when I make my own magazine so that it appeals to the target audience as much as possible.

I have also carried out my own research to find out information about the target audience and their opinions on music and music magazines. I did this through giving out questionnaires to members of the public who I felt would have an interest in music and music magazines and collated their results. I also gathered information from a focus group where I explained my ideas for my magazine to them and collected their feedback. This has enabled me to get direct comments from the target audience so I know what they will like and what will make them want to buy my magazine. 

When looking at the various media institutions which would be representing my magazine I concentrated on the feedback of my target audience as to what they wanted my magazine to be like. With this in mind I could look at the existing magazines represented by each institution to see how much experience they would have within music magazines and my specific genre. When I chose Bauer Media it was because I felt that they had the most experience, as they own three music magazines, one of which is specific to my genre (Q Magazine). I would want my magazine to be represented by an institution that could provide the magazine with everything it needs to fit its target audience, as opposed to an institution such as EMAP Media, which has little experience within the commercial industry and doesn't represent any music magazines at all. 

Research Summary

Flat Plans for Magazine

 This is the flat plan for my front cover, which I made using Microsoft Powerpoint. I think it will appeal to its target audience because their are various sell lines which could appeal to each person and may attract them. One of my sell lines will feature a competition which may make the reader want to buy it so they can win the competition. Also my cover image is of a music artist of the genre my magazine is based on, so it is likely they will attract readers who will want to read the interview with them. I think the flat plan resembles the layout of a general magazine covers as I used an image over the whole page, their are cover lines in various different places on the page and the masthead etc. is in the left side third of the page. I have designed this flat plan in the style of Q Magazine.

 This is my flat plan for the contents page, which I made using Microsoft Powerpoint. I think it will appeal to the target audience because there are images which show the main articles and provide the page number so you can go straight to that article. Also I think it is organized well so it is easy to find a page you are looking for, as the articles will be listed in chronological order and are separated into sections based on their content. I have modeled this contents page on that of Q Magazine, as I think the way they set out their features is sensible and clear yet still interesting for the reader. 

This is my flat plan for the double page spread, which I made using Microsoft Powerpoint. I think it will appeal to the target audience because the image is the main focus of both pages, so there is less to read preventing it from getting boring. The shape of the image I am going to use means I can set out the DPS in a way that I think will look more interesting, as the article title will be next to her head, the interview will be where the white space is and the pull quote is positioned underneath her guitar. I think the pull quote will grab the readers attention and they may want to read the full interview if it interests them. My interview is going to be set out in columns with the questions and answers clearly separated using different colours. My double page spread is probably similar to that of NME.

Edited Images