Unique Selling Point

My intention for my magazine is to appeal to the age range of 16 and above. I have chosen this age range because at 16 years old, you have your own money to buy things you like; such as magazines. Which makes sense, as it will help to sell my magazine. Therefore to focus on an age range younger wouldn't be necessary as it would be very rare of that age to buy magazines. I have decided to make my age range 16+ because I am aiming to make my magazine appeal to adults as well as it will be sophisticated. I will focus on using techniques such as bright colours, gossip, fashion, good looking models/artists and a new up and coming band to draw my target age range in.

My magazine is a mixed hybridity of a fashion magazine and a music magazine all linked into one. This makes my magazine a complete new genre of magazine, as at the moment, this genre does not exist. Most magazine genres are only focussed on one genre; such as music (mostly associated with males) or fashion (mostly associated with females). So I have decided to mix the two genres together in order to attract both female and male audiences. This makes my magazine stand out as it invites a number of different audiences  to buy my magazine for all the different things on offer.

As my magazine is based around the age range of 16+,  I have decided to use a pop group to interview. Hopefully this will help attract the young audiences to buy my magazine as they will be aware of the pop group therefore will want to find out more about them.

Also, as my age range is starting at the age 16,  I will make sure that my magazine is not too pricey as then customers will not buy my magazine as often if they can't afford it. I will be making a questionnaire to find out how much people will be willing to spend on a magazine.

Overall, my unique selling point for my magazine is the fact that it is a brand new genre of mixing a fashion magazine with a music magazine. I believe that this will draw a wide variety of audiences to buy my magazine.

Preliminary Task

Here is my interpretation of a college magazine front cover. I have included a main title/header at the top of the page, which is big bold and eye-catching, for this magazine I have named it 'St Mary's College' as the magazine is made for college. I have included one main model photographed from a head to waist shot, ensuring that the focus on the front page is entirely on the model. From this I have included a leading caption to link to the story. I have chosen the caption- 'Media trip to Ibiza' as the model is holding an Ibiza holiday magazine. I have also included Strap-lines on the left hand side to inform the reader on other stories included in the magazine. The colour scheme is bright and refreshing, with brightly font colour contrasted to the white background. Additionally, I have included the college logo and the college website so the reader knows the magazine is legitimate. 

Contents Page

Here is my hand drawn interpretation of a contents page for the college magazine. I have included the magazine title at the top in big bold writing. I have included on the left hand side, page titles with page numbers. On the right hand side and below the page titles, there are gaps for photographs of what is included in the magazine. I have made my contents page quite simple and easily laid out to not confuse the reader and to make it east to read and find out what is on each page. 

Magazine research

I have researched a music magazine and a fashion magazine in order to get an idea of what I need to include in my magazine. I have chosen the fashion magazine 'more' as it is a very popular and world wide selling fashion magazine, created to suit the ages of 16 and above. Which is what I am doing. I have chosen the music magazine 'NME', also a very well known music magazine aiming at ages 16 and above. My magazine will be quite busy on the front, as it will have lots of bright colours and writing that will be bold and eye catching to grab the readers attention.

Front Cover
Here is an example of 'more' magazine front cover. On the front cover is the main celebrity which is being interviewed for the magazine. For this week, it is Cheryl Cole, and the magazine is concentrating on letting the public be informed about what she is doing lately, whilst at the same time promoting her. The big bold photo enables the reader to know that when they are buying this magazine, Cheryl Cole will be the main story. The fashion magazine is very brightly coloured and has typical girly interests within it, such as fashion and celeb gossip.

Here is an example of the NME magazine front cover, I have chosen this front cover because it looks quite girly compared to the usual NME covers. The font is bright Pink which helps appeal to females, and the celebrity on the front cover is Rihanna who is a pop genre singer, mostly situated to females. Compared to the 'More' front cover, there is less going on. The focus is on the main celebrity, and the subtitles are concentrating on promoting music and informing the readers about new and up coming artists. I will definitely be using the techniques from the 'NME' cover and incorporate them within my front cover.

Contents Page

Here is an example of a music magazines contents page. The heading is big and there are a lot of photos that are connected to music. There is one main photo that is bigger than the others, which lets you know which band the main focus is on. I will do this with my contents page, making sure that my girl group is the main focus. This contents page doesn't tell you what is on every page, but tells you what is on the important pages. The page numbers are bigger and bolder so it makes it easier to see what page you need to turn to. I will include this in my contents page. Also, the simple colour scheme is effective, I presume that it will be the same colour scheme as the front cover, so I will ensure that I use the same colours as my front cover. 

Double Page Spread

Here is an example of a double page spread in a music magazine. The colour scheme is very dark and dull. However, the contrast of the black and white photos makes the photos stand out and enable the reader to be drawn to the music artist. The photo takes up one page, leaving the other page for writing about the artists There is not much writing, but it covers all aspects needed. There are also three more photos below of the artist. The use of a few photos, and not a lot of writing is a clever technique as it won't bore the readers with too much writing to read, and the photos are subtle, but demonstrate what the band is about. I will include photos and a page of writing in my contents page, as too much writing can worry the reader and lose their attention. 

Here is an example of a double page spread from a typical fashion magazine. The white background is a complete opposite to the music magazine, as it makes the page more refreshing and bright. The photo of the band is taken up on one page, and across a little bit of the other. The band are wearing similar colours, which is then used within the colour of the text on the other page. Again, there isn't too much writing, but there are questions and answers evidently laid out. I like that technique as it lets the reader chose which part they want to read about. I will use the refreshing colour scheme on my double spread, and I will make sure that my band take up one side of the double page spread. I will also make sure that my band are wearing similar colours, and then incorporate this with the colour scheme of the text. 

Magazine Training

Here is a magazine front cover that I created on InDesign for training for making my magazine. I learnt how to import photos, add different font in different colours and sizes, and learnt how to import a barcode. 

Initial Ideas

I have decided to create a music/fashion magazine. I will base my work around the typical music magazine structure, of which I will be using the magazine 'NME' for my ideas. This will help appeal to the male audience,  however I am also going to include a few typical women's magazine techniques in order to attract the female audience. I am using the magazine 'More' to help me with my idea. I have picked a girl band to focus on for my music magazine which sing from the genre of 'pop'. I think this will help appeal to the age range of 16 and above. 

For my magazine I will include a front cover, a contents page and a double page spread including an interview with my girl group. The interview will promote their newest single and give a basic summary of their group and explain what their group is about and aimed at. I will focus on including music information, whilst at the same time I will sneak a few parts of fashion and gossip now and then from the girl band.