First draft of my EDITORS LETTER

Here is my first draft of my editors letter, as you can see i have followed conventions by adding a signature at the bottom to personalise it a little (especially as it is in pink) I've used quite informal language to relate to my target audience who are considerable youthful, so i have also tried to incorporate their style of language into is aswell e.g. "Hey guys!". I've also tried to add a sense of humour so this should also attract to many youth's as it can make the magazine a bit more enjoyable to read.

Editor's letter's

I personally feel that i will include an EDITOR'S LETTER into my contents page as i feel that it is a good way as a magazine as a whole to personally communicate with readers on a deeper level.
I have searched some images for editors letters and one from my own music magazine i had purchased, and two from a magazine of a different genre so i can recognise the differences and similarities of conventions and techniques:



Here are two editors letters from two different magazines (fashion magazines) and straight away you can recognise some main conventions: A image of a story or the editor themselves, a signature or the name of the editor and i can see that the first letter of the paragraph is enlarged.






















This is an editors letter from 'Q' magazine May 2010, so this is quite recent. In comparison to the other two letters, there are a few similarities e.g. an image of the editor and a signature, and the overall layout is quite similar. They are short and snappy and do not usually exceed one corner of a page. I feel that magazines chose to write editor's letter's as to communicate with their readers on a more deeper, personal level.

The language used is quite informal and its very to-the-point and snappy. It also sets a tone for the rest of the magazine in terms of how they write etc.

Use of nicknames e.g. "La Welch" sets a tone for the whole magazine to be quite laid back and informal which probably is more approachable for their target audience rather than a magazine full of long, complicated words etc. They also use expletives "bitch" which is also another informal, you could say modern, approach to a language technique.

The overall purpose for a editor's letter is to summarise the whole content of the magazine in one paragraph, or to mention important stories etc. The language is quite laid back-as though they are talking to the reader face-to-face. I feel that i will produce my own editors letter, and mention special competitions etc. Just to be conventional and to communicate with my readers on a more personal level.

Analysing contents pages

Here are two analysed sets of contents pages from Q magazine (click on images to enlarge and view in detail) I have recognised that on two different issues, they have used the same layout, colour scheme and font etc. in each contents page. Its very obvious what conventions are used in these two images as they are consistent throughout each issue, and i am sure that if i was to search more Q magazine contents pages, they will be present aswell.

Analysing these examples of contents pages has helped me recognise the typical music magazine layout of a contents page. I have also recognised important conventions, so i can use them in my own magazine.

I will further investigate language used in music magazines and what technique will suit my own target audience.

Planning my contents page

For my contents page, i know for sure that i am going to be met with many problems, edits and adjustments as i think it will be difficult to fit a whole magazine's contents on one A4 page. I am going to do some research on current contents pages to get inspiration for my own layout/colour/ language style etc.

Work Experience at LIVE/LIVITY MAGAZINE

I was privileged enough to get the opportunity to work at LIVE MAGAZINE for two days; who are a free magazine aimed at the youths of Lambeth. I feel that this was the perfect opportunity to get ideas on how a real magazine industry worked and it has given me loads of ideas to perfect my own magazine, and of course it has helped me to see what working in a magazine headquarters is like. I worked with the design team (who create the layout and illustrations on each magazine page) and i think it was an amazing experience and it helped me to develop my skills on editing programs i had never used before (e.g. adobe illustrator).

I have also managed to get my own illustration into their next issue (based on the future) which is great (displayed above)

Overall i feel this was a really good experience as it has deepened my knowledge on magazine conventions by recognising LIVE'S own compared to magazines i have previously researched: e.g. they have a white mastead and they use the same font throughout the magazine etc. >>>

Example of two music genres collaborating with eachother

Recently i have realised that the collaboration between INDIE MUSIC and DUB STEP has increased especially amongst the ages of 13-25 year olds and most fans of both music genres. I have noticed this because myself and many of my friends enjoy this type of music and on websites such as YouTube, these songs have become above 4 star rated and have many positive reviews. I think that this may be something that i may mention in my CONTENTS PAGE and FINAL FRONT COVER as this may draw to my target audience.

Here are two examples using ELLIE GOULDING and JAKWOB:

New convention?

When browsing through magazines in WhSmith, this version of 'Q' magazine really caught my eye and i felt it deserved to be posted on here. There seems to be 2 front covers. One was a almost 'CD style' cover for the actual magazine with the other front cover. I feel that they had chosen to do this because there was possible two main stories that they wanted the reader to see and they maybe felt that they both deserved the front page. I have hardly seen this technique used in music magazines, and i initially thought that it was done because 'FREE MUSIC' was advertised and i assumed that there was a CD inside and the cover was for security; but i later found that the free music was a download inside the magazine so this was a false accusation. I feel that this may catch on to other music magazines and may be a common magazine convention in the future. (You can see that on the right is the actual magazine and the left is the cover)

Kings of Leon live performance

This is a video of Kings of Leon performing live at the Brit awards, I think this can relate to my target audience and my magazine as they are a very popular indie band and they can seem attractive to my target audience etc. Also, i am thinking of including the Brit Awards in a competition in my magazine e.g. to win tickets as i feel this shall draw people to my magazine and it includes a lot of indie acts. I also chose to publish a live performance as i feel that it shows the artist's pure potential and talent without any technological editing.

First draft of my front cover

As a first draft, i feel that this went pretty well, but i can allready see loads of room for improvement. For example; i feel that there is a lot of empty space, so i should fill this with more headlines and content of my magazine etc. I also feel that the masthead should stand out a bit more. I am happy with the overall design and feeling of the magazine and i feel that it represents my music genre as the colour scheme is quite bright and the lighting effects that i have used against my main artist can represent stage lights etc. I feel that i have used current magazine conventions with a white masthead, barcode and price, and a main image of my featured artist. I shall further evaluate in deeper detail when i have produced my final image and i have edited anything that i feel needs improving.

Charts of my findings

Here are some pie charts that i have drawn up from some of my findings from my questionnaire that i feel can be considerably important in the making of my magzine even though all of my findings contribute to production.

This pie chart represents the population of my target audience who download and buy singles regularly (from my sample of 10 people from my target audience). It shows that the majority (80%) do download music regularly, so this can encourage me to include download offers in my magazine e.g. iTunes vouchers or a download chart etc. to cater to their purchasing needs. These can also stimulate the other 20% to do so also.

This chart also shows me that the majority of my target audience have an iTunes account which usually indicates that they are in possession of an iPod or a Mp3 player of some kind. So for the remaining 20% i can introduce this form of media tecnology through a competition to win an iPod etc. To also promote the current 80%, i could, as i said before give away vouchers for iTunes etc.

Questionnaire-research into reader profile etc.

I carried out a questionnaire on my target audience to see what type of content they would like to see featured in my magazine. These are the results that i have gathered from asking 10 people.

Click image for larger picture.

Masthead Research

I did some research on current mastheads on current music magazines just to represent current conventions and to compare my own masthead to those of professional magazines i feel that i have followed current conventions as my masthead is white and 4 major music magazines have white mastheads.

Official magazine name and masthead

When creating the name for my indie magazine 'INDIGO' was the first name that popped up in my head straight away and i have used it since. I feel that it's quite a funky name for a teenager's magazine and the play on words works really well;

INDIE >>>>>>>>name of music genre

GO >>>>>>>>could mean to go and listen to music or can symbolise movement e.g. dancing

INDIGO>>>>>>>>a colour, mostly stereotyped as a girls colour (my target audience)

I do not feel that i need to find another name for my magazine, but this may or may not cause me a few problems further on in the process of creating my magazine etc.

When finding the font for my masthead i tried to find a font that stand out from other competing magazines and also has a link to the genre of my magazine. The one that i have found which is called "Reboard" on http://www.dafont.com/ i feel suits my music genre as it looks quite 'clubby' or which you can possibly see on leaflets for clubs or gigs. I also like the way that some of the letters merge together and there are no gaps i.e in the 'O'. I have decided to follow some conventions and use white as the colour of my masthead.

Iconography of my music genre-album covers

These are some recent and past album covers by the artists i have forementioned. I have noticed that all the male artist groups do not actually have images of themselves on their artwork, whereas the female artists all do. Maybe this is because they feel that they need to be recognised as a person/celebrity and not by their music? There is no consistent colour scheme for all the album covers and they all differenciate from eachother, mainly because they want to be easily identified amonst other artists from their genre. There are alot of bright colours though, which supports my choices of colour on my colour palette. All of these album covers help to represent the iconism of indie music and this can help me furthermore revise the mise-en-scene and style of this music genre.

Defining my music genre and relevent artists that may be featured in my magazine

This is a moodboard of a selection of artists that may be featured in my magazine (e.g. in my contents page and front cover). These are mainly male indie/rock artists. I have recognised the mise-en-scene in these photographs are very similar which defines what indie rock artists look like etc. I have also noticed that they are mainly black and white or sepia photographs. Also looking at the facial expressions of these artists they all look quite serious and slightly intimidating. These artists include: THE KILLERS, KINGS OF LEON, OASIS, SNOW PATROL, OWL CITY, THE FRAY, THE ARCTIC MONKEYS, MCR and COLDPLAY.

These are some indie girl artists/bands that will be seen more popular amungst my target audience which are girls. Even though the boys will also attract many of the girls due to attraction etc. I feel that they are more likely to listen to female artists. I can see that the mise-en-scene and style of the photographs are completely different to those of the boys. These artists may also be included in my front cover or contents pages. These artists include: KE$HA (who is a mix of indie rock/techno), LADY GAGA (who can be seen as a pop artist but i am planning to include her in my magazine by having her co-orporate with a indie artist or band), THE TING TINGS, PIXIE LOTT, KATE NASH, LITTLE BOOTS, ELLIE GOULDING and ALPHABEAT.