AUDIENCE RESEARCH

This is my questionnaire which I handed out to people, some people didn't realise there was a back side so I had to tell them which was a bit of a problem but was quickly sorted.

I asked 15 females and 15 males, this is the proportion of that shown on a graph.

This graph shows the age range of people I handed questionnaires out to. There was 7 who were aged 13-16 and 27 aged 17-25.

I asked people which type of music they prefer, these are the results:
5 people said Rock music, 12 people said pop, 6 people said rap, 3 said dubstep and 4 people said other.

This is the amount of people who would buy a magazine with a free item, this wasn't as useful as 15 people said maybe so there should have been a following question asking what type of free item people would buy. 2 people said no and 12 said yes.

This is what people would find appealing in a magazine. 16 people said fresh music, 5 said news, 6 said reviews, 4 said competitions, 12 said interviews, 9 people said Q&A, 12 said Top 40 and 3 said music equipment. For this question, they could answer whichever applied to them and which they were appealed to.

This question gave me an idea of how much people wanted to spend on magazines. 20 people said £2-£3.99 and two people said £4-£4.99 but said it depends on how much it had in it and what it was based on. 8 people said they'd only spend £0-£1.99. This gave me a better idea on what people were willing to spend and depending on what they got with the magazine.

This question was what appeals to people on a magazine which makes them by it. 15 people said cover story, 12 people said feature stars, 12 people said freebies, 7 people said price, 4 people said colour scheme, 15 people said genre. They could choose all which applies to them. This showed me, most people chose the magazine because of what was on the front of the cover, so I have to create something which people will want to know about and want to read and also the genre. People aren't going to buy a magazine which they have no interest in. 

PUBLICATION PLAN

Magazine Title:
To get my title, I tried to find a different name for 'popular' but which related to music, as I'm doing a pop magazine. From here, I got 'Noted' I think this relates to music too as of a music note.

Target Audience:
The target audience is about 16-25 and because I am between this age range, so it'll be easier because I know the type of the music people like and the people who people this age listen to. I also have an easier way of finding out what fashion and interests are around at the moment and what people this age are interested in.

Positioning Statement:
The biggest selling fortnightly pop magazine. This will be at the top of the page with a black or grey background and white font.

Frequency of Publication:
Fortnightly - this is because I found most music magazines are weekly or monthly, so I thought by having a fortnightly one it gives people the option and more frequency to buy it but not too much. This will also mean there will be more music news than there is in a weekly magazine.

Publishing Company:
Bauer Publishing Company

Price:
£2.20

Distribution: Newsagents, supermarkets eg, WHSmith, Boots, etc

Rationale: A look into what fans want, shown, articles, interviews and concert news will be provided. I'll find this out from questionnaires done to see what is a popular feature etc.

Regular Features:
Top 40
Articles
Interviews
Concert Information
Editors Note
Subscription information

Feature Article: 
Bands news
Bands who're getting back together/splitting up.

House Style:
Black and white picture, using a red background with white font for the title. A banner at the top of the page to say it's a big selling fortnightly magaine. Also, a red font for the main part linking with the photo.

Use a medium close up for the cover star on the front cover, this will also be the same person on the double page spread because the stories need to link together. For the contents page, I will either have a big portrait photo or two landscape photos. Also, a picture of the editor on the contents page with an editors note. For the subscription, I will put a picture of my front cover on there, so people know what they're subscribing too.

WRITTEN PLANS

Cover Page:

The cover image will be black and white of a girl in the middle of the photo. This will have barely any white background so that the contrast is high with the use of black and white. The title 'Noted' will be in red in some way or have a red background so that it stands out but not too big so that it doesn't take attention away from the photo. There will be a banner at the top of the photo if there is enough room and depending on the rest of the layout of the page.
Down the left hand side of the page, I am thinking of having several different fonts and sizes and boldness in white with a list of things inside the magazine - I have seen this inside a version of Q magazine and I thought it looked really effective and split the text up slightly.
There will be a quote mark in red, bold, and with a slight drop shadow going across the photo to explain the cover story which will link to the double page article.

Contents Page:

The contents page will have 'Contents' or 'Inside this week' at the top of the page. On the left side there will be a list of pages with subheadings and page numbers in black and red page numbers.
On the right side of the page, there will either be two landscape photos or one big portrait picture covering the majority of the page. I am planning to have a subscription somewhere at the bottom of the page, depending on how much room I have which will have a picture of the front cover to show what they're subscribing too. I will also have an editors note at the bottom of the page too, with 'editors note' being in red to stand out and possibly an italic font in order to split the page up and so people know its different from the page numbers. But I will split this up with a different background and possible different font colour.
Some of the smaller pictures will have a stroke around the pictures so they stand out from the other photos but still don't take any attention away from the main focus picture.
Double Page Spread:

For my double page spread, I am planning to link it in with my cover page story, so I need a similar style of image from this and the same model.
I would like a simple layout for this, probably using a rule of thirds for the photo so that the focal point is towards a side of the photo and then having the photo on one side of the double page. The title will stand out in a bold colour which will contrast from the background and the subheading will also stand out in someway, but not take the attention away from the focal point in the picture of the main heading.
The article is going to be about a girl leaving the band which will be a famous band so people are attracted to this story and it will be advertised on the front cover.

SKETCHES AND DESIGNS

These are my cover, contents and double page spread designs. I have taken some inspiration from other pop magazines to create a similar style, I will try to stick to it as much as possible but depending on my photos it may change slightly.

PHOTOSHOOT FOR COVER PAGE/DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

These two top photos are the final photos which I chose for my cover page and double page spread, but the other photos I took on a different photo shoot but I didn't like these so chose not to use them.

OTHER PHOTOSHOOTS - CONTACT SHEETS

This is my photo shoot for my magazine, here, I tried to get a different range of ideas and a lot of photos and then could choose the best quality ones and see which would work best with my photos.

After doing my first photo shoot, I found I had enough photos to work with but I did my double page spread photos in a separate shoot in a set location and black and white.