drafting and planning

This is the improved version of my contents page for my magazine.

I kept the same layout because i think it is unique but is just as coherent as other contents page's however i have extended the room for sub headings by minimising the size of the text describing the exclusive interviews. This is to contemplate for the amount of content a weekly magazine like mine should have. a long with the content that i have now filled in, i have also included simple black lines to separate each feature as well as individual page numbers, a common convention that directs the readers to exactly where they want to go to read about that particular feature.

The six sub-headings i used are the most common categories amongst magazines like NME and Q so i remained consistent with their style by including similar categories in distinct red sub-headings which separates each category of content into a neat coherent.

I also kept all of the fonts the same because they comply well with simple and coherent style of my contents page.

drafting and planning

This is my improved double page spread.

The first thing i changed was the size of the font, because like my front cover, it needs to be smaller if it is to be more realistic especially if its meant to be an article, which usually have small text.
I then added an introduction beneath the band name and above the article. This directly links the band's name with the questions being asked them and so it eases the readers into the article so they know exactly what they're reading about. I made it bold so that its distinctly and introduction which attracts the readers attention and then lures them in to reading the article as it gives an insight into what they can expect to find.
I also added another red box, much larger than the sub-headings, which is promoting my magazine's website www.ignite.com where readers can find a 'sneak peak' at my band's new album. This is a typical convention of music magazines, including NME who have their own website, because its common for magazines to advertise their website and the special digital content that they ahev that cannot come with a magazine.

drafting and planning

This is my improved front cover for my magazine and i am more pleased with this version than i am with the previous version because of the improvements that i made which makes it more realistic.

Firstly, i changed the font size of the anchorage text that accompanies the cover lines because these should be much smaller than the main cover line and overall helps create a more realistic scale to a music magazine. I also added another cover line to fill the negative space left by shrinking the font size.

secondly i changed the pug because its rare that a magazine like NME would advertise posters so i changed it to tickets for 'Glasto' an abbreviation of a festival that my target audience would understand and therefore be more interested in because they are mostly of a young demographic who use abbreviations frequently.

Thirdly i changed some of the featured bands like example because looking back, i don't think David Guetta was too realistic for an NME styled magazine but i think example fits well.

Finally i added an appropriate dateline and price in the top right hand corner above the masthead as this is a conventional location for a dateline, particularly in NME and i made it a realistic size so that it does not attract attention away from the masthead. I also altered the colour of the main cover line so that it matched better with the cover lines and masthead

target audience

I think i was able to target my audience effectively through my double page spread article through a number of ways. I was able to target my magazines young demographic by having the simple, easy to read sub-headings which provides clarity because they separate out the answers and makes it easier for them to identify what question and its corresponding answer that they are most interested in reading about. This is effective as teenagers and young people in general have short attention spans so using red sub-headings makes it easier for them to read and identify and so will become more attracted to this magazine.

I also targeted my magazines audience by including interesting questions that they would want to see asked to new and upcoming bands, as the questions reveal information about the band that they wouldn't have known before and they might be interested to know the life and story behind a new, hot band who they could relate to and potentially become a fan of.

I was able to target my band's target audience through the response of the band itself. Using words like f*****, mental and vodka, adds to the explicit nature of the band which is intriguing to indie rock fans as a lot of indie rock bands are open and explicit in their approach as its seen as rebellious and cool and so therefore indie rock fans would be more enticed to read about my band because they adopt the same cool, explicit approach. I further targeted my band's target audience by including vital information about my band. This would intrigue them as any indie rock fans who like the look of the band but don't know who they are would probably want to find out about their background, their opinions and their album so that they can get to know the band and maybe become and this would be particularly effective with any indie rock enthusiasts who are looking for cool, new indie rock bands to follow. My magazine gives them this opportunity as they feature the newest and hottest bands from all music genres and my band through their attitude, their opinions and their explicit nature help target their audience as well.

Research into similar products

As is evident in the above images and in most copies of NME, the date line and price are consistently the same, i have decided to research deeper into this as it was one of my improvements for my magazine and its one small yet significant element of a music magazine that cannot be over looked.

New NME magazines come out each week and therefore i shouldn't produce a magazine which comes out monthly like Q, this is important as the level of content is significantly higher in monthly issues than than that of weekly issues so therefore my magazine, 'ignite' should have a specific dateline like '1 February 2015' like NME.

This also effects the price, a monthly magazine averages at around £4 whereas in weekly magazines are much less like NME and their standard price of £2.30 and so i shall use a similar price.

The location of the dateline and price is always in the same place on nme front covers, in the top left hand corner above the masthead. There is an appropriate place on my magazine in which i could place my dateline and price but i must also ensure that it is of a small size so that it doesn't attract much attention away from the most important front cover elements like the masthead and therefore my magazine will also comply better with the style of NME magazines and its conventions.

NME magazine also includes a URL to their website, in small print in their barcode, so there is another element to consider but maybe not one as significant as the dateline and price. I may include a URL to my magazine's website in my DPS to advertise digital content in relation to my featured band the Desperados especially since they talk about their new album within the article so that could be the focus of the digital content on my magazine's website