My double page spread draft

Pull quote: “We want to be Unpredictable!”

Today I’m joined by the biggest boy band of this year otherwise known as Nu Direction, for anyone who doesn’t know who these boys are, which seems very unlikely! We have Garin Jones (16), Tom Harris (16), Alex Webb (16), Stephan Lane (17) and Sam Price (19) for their first ever interview there was only one magazine that they wanted to talk to: Drop a Beat.

Here’s what happened when we spent the day with the five cutest boys in the country…Just for you!

We find out what they’ve been doing since the X factor and how they are handling their new found fame, we also talk about their new single “Up all Night” which will be released next week!

Hey boys, so how has this past year been like for you?

Garin: It’s gone so fast we’ve been so busy that it’s just flown by but if I had to sum it up in one word I would say it’s been very hectic.

Alex: It’s been surreal I can’t believe that this is actually our life now it’s crazy.

Sam: I know that I speak for the rest of the boys when I say that without a doubt this have been the best year of our life and we are so grateful to have this amazing opportunity.

Whose idea was it to call the band Nu Direction?

Stephan: I think that we all had a say in what the band should be called but I think that Tom was the one that put forward the name “Nu Direction”.

Tom: Well I hate to be the one to take all the credit, but if you insist then I guess I will.

Ok, this is probably a silly question but with all this craziness do you ever wish you could go back to the days before you were famous?

Garin: Never, I love everything about my at life the moment, the only let down is that we don’t get to see our friends and family as much as we would like to but then when we do we get to make it extra special.

Tom: I love all the craziness so I would never go back, it’s still hard to get used to the fact that all the fans are screaming for us, and want to see us, but I would like to see my family more.

Alex: I wouldn’t go back even with all the craziness it’s still a great opportunity we’ve been given and the best thing that I have ever done and I’m thankful for it all.

What is the craziest thing a fan has ever done to get close to you?

Sam: I remember once a fan drop her phone into my pocket so that she would have to come back tomorrow to get the phone from me, but it didn’t really go to plan because the security took it off me and gave it back to her but it was still a pretty good attempt.

Stephan: We were in London the other day going to the studios, but when we got there we weren’t able to get out of the car as the fans had surrounded it so we were trapped, it was pretty scary when they started banging on the windows and rocking the car which was crazy but funny, Its just mad the extremes that some fans go to.

That does sound pretty crazy, what’s it like working and living together?

Alex: It’s great-non –stop fun. And it’s never quiet, that’s for sure.

Are there any annoying habits?

Tom: Yeah, Sam’s got a very bad habit of being clean. Well, probably not a bad habit- it’s a good habit really, but he just always wants to be clean.

Sam: That’s true-I’m the cleanest in the house!

Well what sort of can we look forward to from the band?

Garin: We’re trying to make our own sound really, and just to be our own band.

Stephan: I think we’ll all have to just wait and see how it goes.

Alex: We want to be unpredictable, so you can expect something unexpected.

I’ll look forward to that then, what is your debut single “Up all night” about?

Tom: It’s basically about five boys having a good time and partying all night.

Sam: Yeah it’s about that and also it’s about finding that one special girl that you want to stay up all night with.

Aww that’s sweet, what would you be doing if you weren’t in a band?

Stephan: I would be in sixth-form studying to be an English teacher.

Tom: I would also be in sixth-form studying Law, Business and English.

Sam: I would be in university studying to be a drama teacher.

Alex: I would be doing something to do with sound-engineering.

Wow who knew you were all so smart, now this is the question that I think every teen girl wants to know, what are you looking for in a girl?

Garin: Someone who can make me laugh and has a nice smile.

Stephan: I like girls who are cute and also have a good personality.

Alex: I like a girl who has nice eyes and knows how to have a good time.

There we go girls, finally what would you like to have achieved in ten years?

Tom: I would like to have had a number one album in another country; I think that would be cool.

Sam: I want to be able to say that we have sold out a world tour and still have the support from our amazing fans.

Garin: All I want is to still be doing what we’re doing right now and having as much fun as we are that would be enough, but I would be thankful for anything else that happens.

Well Its was lovely to talk to you all I can see that you are lovely, grounded boys who are loving every second of being famous, you’ve got a long and great career in front of you, Thank you!

My ideas for my double page spread

My double page spread will be about a new band called Nu direction I will be talking about their new single “Up all night” and how they are dealing with the fame, I also will talk about their love life and what they would be doing if they weren’t in a band, to keep it interesting for the reader. The genre of their music is pop so I will be asking pop related questions. The format that I will use to write this article will be a question and answer style as the magazines that I have been analysing are all done in that style, I am also going to use a pull quote as in almost every pop magazine that I have looked at has one and it is a good way to draw the reader in. I’m going to write it in a light-hearted, humorous way but it will still be intelligent, as I believe this will appeal to the type of readers that I hope to attract the most. The layout of my page will either be three columns on the left hand side with text in it, then on the right side have a large subsidiary image of the band with the pull quote below or have columns going across the both pages with a large subsidiary image of the band above with the pull quote going across them, I will have to wait and see which way looks better on the page.

Subsidary Images.

Main front image edits!

My music magazine so far...

This is my music magazine almost finished, what I like about my magazine is the colour scheme as I think they go together really well and look like a colour scheme you would find on a Pop magazine and are both colours that would suit boys and girls who are Pop fans. The next thing that I am going to add are 3 little posters on the bottom left and i need to add a banner line, I also want to make the main image bigger and enlarge my masthead slightly to make them stand out so you know that they are the most important things on there and then i will be happy with my magazine.

Chosen Masthead

This is the masthead that i decided to use, that once again I created on photoshop. I used two different font types, for the 'Drop A' I used a font called synchro and for the 'beat'  I used the Romerial Inline font. I added a drop shadow to make it stand out and look as if its 3D which I think looks quite effective. I believe that this looks like the type of masthead that you would find on your average Pop magazine

Possible mastheads

These are the four mastheads that I created on photoshop, I really like both of the colours purple and pink as a colour scheme for my Pop magazine as its a very feminine colour, so I decided to create a couple of different masthead designs with the colours purple and pink to see which one I prefer and I think I am going to use a pink masthead as I think it will fit in better with my genre.

Drop a Beat Mission Statement

Lauren’s new magazine Drop a Beat is a music magazine. Focusing on Pop music, Drop a Beat will combine amazing new releases, fresh new artists, good imagery, packed with shocking gossip all written in a witty style, to keep you wanting more.

Drop a Beat is mainly aimed at females around the ages of 14-19. Drop a Beat readers tend to be very feminine girls who are creative, open-minded, are very light-hearted and have a good sense of humour.

Drop a Beat contains everything that every girl would hope to read about, music, gossip, artists, clothes and the hottest celebrities. It’s a very light-hearted and humorous magazine but is still written in an intelligent, informative way.

Drop a Beat does not force you mind into things, it will merely plant the seed and let you creativity and imagination takeover and run free.

Drop a Beat’s role in its readers’ lives is to inform, entertain and inspire people to believe in themselves and get then doing something that they are passionate about.

Possible main front cover photo's

Music magazine draft 2

,Music magazine draft 1

Reader Profile

Drop A Beat: Reader Profile

Female: 90%        

Male: 10%

Average age: 16

ABC1: 75%

Still Studying: 88%

Working fulltime: 10%

Unemployed: 2%

In the last 12 months Drop A Beat readers bought on average:-

50 CD Albums-£500 for every reader

                                                        Total readership- £20m

61 CD Singles-£183 each reader

                                                     Total readership- £8m             

45% buy a lot of their music from a major music chain (i.e. HMV)

20% specialist record shop.

68% buy their music from an online retailer (Amazon, ITunes)

62% tracks downloaded in the last month.

80% own an iPod.

20% own a CD player.

90% have a mobile phone.

Like to keep up to date:-

64% say it’s important to keep up with the latest music.

43% are passionate about music.

Concerts and events:-

85% go to concerts regularly/often.

79% get their tickets online.

15% get tickets over the phone.

97% agree that music is a part of their daily lifestyle.

78% agree that they like to listen to new artists, which are being advertised.

35% are tempted to buy the products that are being advertised in the magazine.

front cover image notes

How to make the front cover image effective:-

·        Position of model(s)

·        Colour scheme

·        Clothing- costumes

·        Lighting

·        Camera shot

·        Camera angle

·        Background

·        Props

·        Hair & Make-up

·        Shot distance

·        Composition

·        Number of models

·        The genre of magazine

·        Representation- gender, age, music

·        Pose

·        Setting- interior or exterior

·        Model on cover represents audience

·        Take at least 5 shots

Music Fan Profile

Partying Popgirl

Age 15-19

What is she wearing? A feminine floral dress, with black tights and knee high boots, with a smart jacket as she never knows who she might run into( she hopes Justin Bieber) she’s into all the designer names such as Hollister, jack wills, Bench or anything glittery and girly. She wears her hair down in loose curls and wears minimal make-up as she wants to look good but not be over the top.

Listening To anything pop related, but mainly sung by her favourite boy band One Direction or Justin Bieber, she likes anything she can dance around to and be able to sing along into her hairbrush to.

Wants to be Married to either Justin Bieber or Harry Styles in the next ten years.

Find her In the middle of the dance floor at one of her many house parties or listening to her music at full volume in her room while painting her nails and applying make-up in preparation  for her big night out.

Music magazine evaluation

Music Magazine Evaluation

I gave out eight of my questionnaires to girls and seven to boys as that is the gender that I’m hoping to aim my magazine at. Twelve of them were between the ages of fifteen to eighteen and the rest of them were nineteen plus. The top answers for what type of music they enjoyed listening to was pop and R&B as eight people said they like pop and six said R&B the one with the least amount of votes was indie music as only two people said that they liked it. I asked the question what would you be most interested in reading about on the front cover and the most popular answers were singers and upcoming concerts as they both got fifteen votes each, followed by latest albums and CDs with fourteen votes and music competitions with nine votes, the least popular choice was music producing as it only got two votes. The masthead that got the most votes was Drop a Beat as it got five votes, Music Mayhem was the second favourite which had four votes and the other mastheads got two votes each. The slogan that people preferred the most was ‘let the music speak’ which had eight votes, the slogan that the majority of the people disliked was ‘let the fun begin’ as no one voted for it. The target audience that everyone thought the magazine should be aimed at is between the ages of sixteen and nineteen as thirteen people voted for it, the other two votes were for the ages of eleven and fifteen. The three favourite colours that people thought would look the best together on a front cover were white, black and pink as they got eight votes each, the least favourite colour was purple which had only two votes. Thirteen people said that they would buy a music magazine which means two said that they wouldn’t.  Fourteen people said that they would want to see a band on the front cover; only one person said that they would, like to see instruments on the cover. Finally nine people said that they would be willing to pay between £2-2.50 for the magazine and six people said that they would want to pay £1-1.50 for it.

Analysis of magazine covers

Analysis of magazine covers

I decided to research on the internet, girly, pop magazines as that is the sort of cover that I would like to produce and out of the covers that I looked at these were my five favourite, I like the layout of all these covers and the way the colours stand out the most, I like the idea of having a white background and then having your most important text in a bright colour this will make it stand out more and be more interesting for the reader. My favourite two are between the top sugar magazine with one direction on it, as I like the way they have been positioned and the layout of the magazine, i also like that they are slightly covering the masthead but you can still make out what it says I think that’s a very good effect. My second favourite is the Fabulous magazine cover as once again I like how they have been placed on there and the way the masthead stands out but I’m not too fond on the layout of the cover as I think it’s a bit boring and dull, I believe that by combining certain qualities from the five different covers I could produce a good front cover that I would be happy with.

analysing magazine covers- these were my favourite!

my music magazine questionnaire.

Music Magazine Questionnaire.

Please circle one of the following answers

1.     What  age group are you in:

11-14        27+

15-18

19-22

23-26

2.     What Gender are you?

Female

Male

3.     What type of music do you prefer?

Pop

R&B

Rock

Indie

Other (please state)

4.     Which of the following stories would you be more interested in reading about (pick four)

Singers (artists)

Music competition

Music producing

Latest albums and CDs

Upcoming concerts

Albums

Other (please state)

5.     What masthead do you like the best?

Music madness

Pop Sensations

Drop a beat

Music Mayhem

Off beat

Other (please state)

6.     Which slogan to you prefer out of the following:

You’ll hear it here first

Let the music speak

Get your music fix here

Let the fun begin here

Other (please state)

7.     What age should the target audience be?

11-15

16-19

20-23

24+

8.     What colours should the magazine cover be (choose three)

White

Black

Red

Blue

Pink

Purple

Green

Other (please state)

9.     Would you by a music magazine?

Yes

No

10.              How much would you be willing to pay?

£1-1.50

£2-2.50

£3-3.50

11.            What images would you like to see on the front cover?

Bands

Solo Artists

Instruments

Other (please state)

my final school magazine front cover

School magazine evaluation!

Evaluation of my school magazine front cover

I found adobe design quite hard to use at the beginning of my project, but after I worked with it a bit more I began to get more used to it and found it easier to work with. I thought that my school magazine came out quite successful, I was pleased with my main front image as it looked smart and tidy, if I were to do this again though I probably would’ve  used more people as my main image varying in age to show the different pupils in the school. I was happy with my colour choice of yellow because it is the main school colour and represents it well. I wasn’t very happy with the layout and slogan of my magazine cover as I think it lacked in creativity and was quite boring, if I was going to do this again I would make the main image take up the whole front cover and use yellow and black text instead of just black as I believe that would’ve been more effective and interesting, I would make my stories more eye catching and stand out more as well. I was pleased with the amount of photos that I used (three) I think if I had anymore on there it would’ve been too much. In the end I was happy with the way the cover turned out and enjoyed creating and piecing it together.

I will be putting up the image of my front cover tomorrow, but it is still unfinished!

main front cover photos

my front cover photographs

my second magazine cover draft

my first magazine draft

My questionnaire evaluation

Media Studies

Questionnaire Evaluation.

I gave my questionnaire out to eight people who were five girls and 3 boys. The age varied from year 7 to year 13. The slogan that everyone preferred was ‘Saved by the bell’ as it got 4 votes; where as the other two choices had only 2 each. The three favourite stories that people would like to read about the most were Sporting Success and Teachers (secrets) as they got 6 votes each, followed by Next drama production which had 4 votes. The masthead that people liked the most was KHS which had 6 votes and the least favourite was Henry as no one voted for it. Seven people said that they would buy the school magazine if it was being sold, and 5 people said that they would be willing to pay 50p-£1 for it. The colour that most people said would draw their attention the most if it was on the front cover of the school magazine was Gold as it got 3 of the votes, the least popular colour was pink as it got no votes. The most popular answer for what images you would like to see the most on the front cover was a mixture of all the years as it got 5 votes; the least popular answer was teachers as it got 0 votes, finally I asked who should the school magazine be aimed at, and 6 people voted for all, students, teachers and parents which was the most popular answer.