Magazine Cover Picture - Selection Process

After the photo-shoot, I ended up with 5 final photos that I will use for my magazine cover. Out of the 5 photos, I have decided to choose this photo for the final front cover. I have chosen this photo for various reasons, firstly this photo captures the cover model's body posture and facial expressions very clearly which is important because it conveys the type of artist he is. His facial expression is very concentrated so it shows how passionate he is about his music, in addition he is holding a guitar to show the readers what type of genre he produces. I think that the mid shot angle of this photo is the best angle to use as you can clearly see he is playing the guitar, as well as his clothes and face.

The background image complements the cover model very well; the white wall behind him contrasts with his overall body and the color of his clothes which enhances the picture more clearly. The cover model would have been harder to see if the background was a darker shade of color; I think that white was the correct background to use for this photo-shoot.

There are a few reasons why I did not choose the other pictures -

I do no think that this is the right picture to use for my magazine cover; the lighting in the picture is definitely too dark and you cannot see the cover model's face properly.In addition, the shadow in the background doesn't appeal to me because I would prefer a picture where the background is completely white. A completely white background will complement the colors of his clothes and will contrast well. Overall, I don't like this picture so I will not use it.

This is a decent picture, however the cover model's facial expressions are not "dramatic" enough; I think that the model should be singing so that the readers understand that he is a singer, as well a guitar player.

This is not the best photo to use since you cannot see the whole guitar; I would prefer to use a photo where you can see the guitar as well as the cover model playing it.










In conclusion, I think that the chosen photo appeals most to my target audience which is why I have chosen it; I think that it would make a good magazine cover.

Artists that I may include in my magazine

Since the genre of my magazine is indie, it is important that I include indie artists. I will include indie artists that are both popular and unknown within the genre, so that it can attract both types of audiences. Readers who want to read about their favourite artists and readers who want to discover new music, will both benefit from this since there is a diverse combination of artists included. Here are some of the artists I will include in my magazine:

  

Sarah Jaffe

                             Oh Wonder 
                             

                     The xx                                                                    Tallest Man on Earth

Some of the more popular indie artists within the genre are The xx, whilst some upcoming artists that are lesser known are Oh Wonder. I think that it is good to include a variety of artists so that it will attract a lot more people who will be interested in buying my magazine.

The Photo-shoot

I have planned the photo-shoot before carrying it out, you can read it here - Planning my photo-shoot. 

The location of my photo-shoot is outside the chapel since this location has a white background which I think is an appropriate background for my cover model. In addition, I chose an outside location since I prefer to use natural light than artificial light. The cover model played a guitar during the photo-shoot because I wanted to capture him immersed in his music; we can see that he is focused whilst playing the guitar. I think that his outfit, which is mostly red, contrasts well with the white background behind him since it enhances his body language; it is much clearer to see what he is doing.

I took several photos during the photo-shoot because it is more useful to have lots of photos to choose from afterwards; I deleted the ones which I think are not good enough. Overall, I ended up with about 20 photos, however these are the ones that I think were the best quality:

Cover Model: Francis Basco

Magazine covers that have influenced me

I have researched several magazine covers for inspiration whilst trying to design my own magazine cover; here are some of the magazine covers that I think look very appealing:

 Fader and Clash are music magazines, i-D is an arts & culture magazine and Violet is business magazine. Music magazines are not the only influential designs I have looked at, I think that the 2 non music magazines look just as appealing as the 2 music magazines. I think these cover designs look appealing because they are simplistic, but still eye catching. I want to go for a similar design for my music magazine because I would want to attract a similar readership as these magazines. These magazines are not the most popular within the industry, unlike Kerrang and NME, for example. However, I still think that these magazines have a very dedicated customer base and they contain quality content. These magazines do not conform to the conventions, for example they do not contain puffs, pugs and lots of coverlines. It's minimal and effective. 

Front cover / 2nd mock-up

After I have showed different people my mock up magazine cover, I have gained a lot of feedback which outlined what I have done well and what I need to improve. One of the changes I have made to the front cover is that I have hanged the color of some of the cover lines; at first they were all black, however I have changed the names of the artists to red as it stands out more so the reader can identify it more easily. If the reader identifies their favorite artists more easily, there is a more likely chance that they will buy the magazine. I think that the use of red to to highlight the name of the artists is a very beneficial feature as it definitely stands out more, unlike my previous mock up front cover.

Another feature I have changed is that I have enhanced the cover line which says "FRANCIS BASCO, solo artist of the year" by making it larger and closer to his face. Since he is the cover model and central image for my magazine cover, it is very important to portray his name as the most bold coverline so that the readers identify who he is and his importance in the front cover. In the previous mock up, his name was smaller and it was located near his arms which shows that it is not the most vital article in the magazine, so to improve it I have made the text a lot larger, made the font red and placed in closer to his face. In addition to this, I have also made the coverlines more compacted so that the reader can clearly tell where the coverlines separate.

In terms of the price of the magazine, a few respondents have said that the price was too high but others have said that the price was good and said that it was "a bargain". I have changed the price of my magazine from £3.50 to £2.99 to meet the demands of some of my consumers, however if this price is not appropriate for my magazine then will will change it again. Usually, the price determines the quality of a magazine so I do not want a price that is too low or too high that my target audience cannot afford it. I am trying to find the most appropriate price for my consumers, as well as portraying that my magazine is not low quality.

I will make further improvements to this mock-up cover after gaining some more feedback.

Front Cover / 1st mock-up

Semiotic analysis of my mock up front cover.

I have designed and produced the first mock up for my indie music magazine; the style of the magazine is very simplistic and minimal which includes other conventions of a magazine. There are several reasons why I have chosen each design of the magazine:

 

Masthead —The masthead of my magazine is called “Indigo”, there are several reasons why I chose this name as well as the design of the logo. Indigo is a dark blue-violet colour which is often described as “deep midnight blue”. According to my questionnaire, a lot of people associate indie music with dark colours therefore indigo is an appropriate colour to use. In addition to this, indigo is a unique name because it is short and simple but also sounds similar to “indie” which will convey the type of genre my music magazine is. I have decided to go for a simple and minimalistic design which is why I have simply have a rectangular box around the name, I have chosen this design because indie is often considered as a different and unique genre of music, therefore the design of my masthead will also be unique. Unlike other music magazines which have wild colourful mastheads, I have a different design which looks simple and eye-catching. The name of the magazine is inside a box so that the readers can easily see what is inside it; the name is in the centre of the box so that it stands out more. The colour of the masthead is plain white because it contrasts well with the background which is black. In addition, I have chosen to use a black and white design for the front cover because a lot of respondents from the questionnaire have said that they prefer black and white as the two main colours which are associated with indie music. I am trying to provide and attract my target audience by applying the answers that they have provided me for the music magazine. The font size of the masthead is fairly large because the masthead is obviously one of the most important conventions of a magazine, therefore it must be the first thing that the readers see when they look for it in a shop. I have put the masthead on the top left corner of the front cover because this is the normal convention of a magazine cover; usually when a customer goes into a shop and searches for a magazine, they would be placed in way that you cannot see the bottom of the magazine. It is simply because the top of the magazine would be the first thing that the reader would see on the shelf, in addition most readers visually scan things from left to right so it would be more beneficial if the masthead is placed on the left side rather than the right.

 

Tagline - The tagline of my magazine is "indie music at its finest"; I have chosen this tagline because it is a quick and simple way of conveying what the genre of my magazine is. When a reader first comes across the magazine, they may not know what type of magazine it is so by looking at the tagline they will have a clear understanding of what they will find inside the magazine. It also conveys to the reader that the artists/songs inside the magazine is very high quality because I have chosen the word "finest" which is associated with prestige and upper class. This will attract a lot of customers who are looking for good quality indie music. The size of the tagline is very small compared to the mast head because I do not want the readers to be distracted from the name of the magazine; if the tagline was the same size as the masthead then it would be harder to identify which one is the masthead and which one is the tagline. However, I have chosen to put the tagline just underneath the mast head so the readers will still understand what genre is the magazine and what it is about.

Cover Model - The cover model I have chosen for my magazine is Taylor Rice, who is the lead singer of the indie band Local Natives. I have chosen him because he is obviously an indie artist, in addition anyone who listens to this band will feel attracted to buy the magazine, especially if they are a huge fan. The cover model is a way of attracting customers so I have chosen an appropriate person that would suit the genre. The cover model's facial expression is of him singing which portrays that he is a singer and how he is passionate to sing. His face takes up the majority of the page because it conveys how important he is and how he is relevant to the genre of the magazine. In a magazine, the central image must take up as much of the page as possible, I have done this by cropping the full image and enlarging the part of the image which I will use. I made sure to include his hairstyle as well because it is different from most other music artists. This ensures that the indie style is unique.