Magazine cover Feedback (2nd mock-up)

After I made improvements from my 1st mock-up front cover, I have decided to ask other people what they think of my 2nd mock-up front cover. I filmed their responses; I have gained a a lot of positive feedback, however there is definitely room for improvements.

After hearing their responses, here are some of the improvements I will make:

• I will consider changing the price since some of my respondents have said that it may be too expensive, however others say it is a good price.
• I will add a pug
• I will improve my puff, or consider adding more.

After making these improvements, I will see what other feedback I will get in the future.

How magazines make money.

Magazine publishers earn money from advertisements, subscriptions & the sales generated from newsstands. One of the most common way, though is through advertisements. For popular magazines such as "Marie Claire" or "Cosmopolitan", it is much easier for them to generate revenue through the advertisements in their magazines since they have a stable customer base that continually purchase and read every issue. Marie Claire has a total of 351 pages per magazine, however 90 of these pages contain adverts; Marie Claire charges £17,807 for one full page of advertising which means they will gain a total of £1,602,630 for advertising revenue. So, the more magazines purchased by consumers, the more they will gain revenue. Here is a screen shot of Marie Claire's rate card which includes their rate for advertising:

Companies who choose to advertise their products in Marie Claire have done this because they know that Marie Claire has a loyal customer base so they know that consumers will view their products, and may be persuaded in buying them. Usually, companies with similar target audiences will more likely to advertise their products in a magazine that would be interested in buying them, for example new fashion products would be advertised in Marie Claire and fitness products would be advertised in Men's Health.

Double Page Spread Image - Selection process

For my double page spread, I used one of the pictures I took during the photo shoot with the cover model. Here is the image I will be using:

There are several reasons why I chose this picture rather than the others which I took. Firstly, I think that this picture is very high quality and it would be appropriate to use for a double page spread since the picture is horizontal instead of vertical. Since the picture is horizontal, I have more room for editing and more space to include the features of a double page spread such as the articles, quotes and cover lines. Another reason why I chose this picture is that you can clearly see the cover model's body position and facial expressions which is what I was aiming to capture during the photo-shoot; the use of the mid-close up shot clearly focuses on the way he is playing the guitar, as well as his facial expressions which convey focus and passion whilst he is singing. In addition to this, you can see the clothes he is wearing clearly. I think that the lighting in this picture is very good too since I used natural light outside rather than artificial light, it looks rather simple, minimalistic and natural; there are no obvious lighting effects done on the picture.

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

1. I think that this picture is not the best because I did not like the angle in which it was taken; during the photo-shoot, I tried experimenting with different angles and shots to see which one captured the model's body position and facial expressions the best. This one did not appeal to me because you cannot see the guitar clearly, in addition he is not singing in this shot which conveys a rather dull and boring facial expression on his face.

This picture was a little better than the previous one, however it is not the best. I think that the use of the long mid-shot here is irrelevant as I did not need to capture the cover model's legs. I think that I should use a more zoomed in picture to really capture his facial expressions, whilst showing the right amount of body position to show what he is doing.

I think that this is a decent picture, however it should not be used in the double page spread since the cover model is not singing. Even though I like the quality of this picture, I would much rather prefer one where he is singing to convey how passionate he is about his music.

Double Page Spread plan

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