Evaluation of Detailed Research

After completing detailed research into three different magazines from the rock/indie music genre that I have chosen to concentrate on. These were Kerrang! NME and Under The Radar. By doing this I have discovered design features that I may incorporate into my magazine.

Genre: The genre for my magazine will be a cross between a rock and indie music magazine as I believe that they blend together well and many of the styles and tastes in music overlap. I also believe there is a gap in the market for such a magazine.

Audience: The audience for my magazine will be mainly aimed at males, yet I will try and make the magazine appeal to females as well. They will be aged between 16-24 with a jicnars scale of C1/C2 and a psychographic profile of hedonists, post materialists, radicals and post modernists. The majority will be students or people with a disposable income. They will have an interest in music, e.g. playing an instrument (maybe guitar and drums) and prefer small underground gigs to sell out concerts. They may have long hair and wear tight shirts and skinny jeans. They will be good with technology as my magazine will have lots of online extras.

Title: The masthead for my magazine needs to be short, sharp and easy to remember. This will therefore help to build a brand name for readers to connect with and feel a part of. It will be bold, in capitals with exclamation mark and in a sans sherif font as this is appeal to the target audience as it connotes a fun, lively and informal air to the magazine. The capital letters and exclamation mark will connote it's importance.

Style: The colours in my magazine will be natural rather than artificial and be more simple then detailed and fancy. This links back to the genre of the magazine as it will allow the reader to concentrate on the music and the contents of the magazine rather than the fancy cover designs. The layout of the magazine will be simple as well; one main photograph that takes up the cover, maybe with a couple of smaller photographs to show what else is inside, with coverlines and straplines that show some of the content in the magazine. The font style will most likely be in sans sherif font that suggests informal, fun and youthful air to the magazine. To further appeal to the target audience the strap and cover lines may be at odd angles.

Content: Inside my magazine the content that readers should expect to find are interviews with both popular and upcoming artists, competitions, reviews on albums (done by readers, other artists and the editor). My magazine will also have a fans page where readers can send in their views and comments on anything from articles to albums, similar to the fan page in Kerrang!

Mode of address: The magazine will use a mixture of direct and non direct language to address the reader; the direct language will engage the readers interest and make them feel part of the magazine whilst the non direct language will save them from being overloaded with information etc.

Photographs: The main photograph will be of a popular band in the Rock/Indie music industry. Most likely to be a MLS to a LS and took in a natural setting. Simple back ground which draws attention to the artist rather than the background. The artists will be looking straight at the audience, engaging them and making the interaction feel more personal. This will also connote openness and friendliness.

Contents page: Simple layout with clear colour scheme and design. One half of the page will dedicated to the text of the contents page which will be separated under smaller headings, and the most of the other half done with pictures along with small straplines and page numbers telling the reader where they can find that particular article. There will be a small note form the editor and with it a small version of the cover. This makes the magazine more personal and gives the reader a sense of openness and familiarity. The text will use informal language which connotes a sense of fun, casual and relaxed magazine.

Double Page Spread: A full featured interview with a popular or new and up coming artist/band within the rock/indie music industry. There will be a full or half paged photograph that will dominate one page along with a heading and strapline. These will be done in sans sherif font what connotes a fun and informal side to the magazine. The background will be simple and not be distracting for the reader. The magazine will also use informal language. This provides a baseline fro the rest of the magazine to follow and therefore cementing it's trademark and brand image. The sans sherif font also connotes a more fun, laid back and causal style to the magazine.

Publisher: Polestar or IPC Media.

Distributor: The distributor needs to be fairly mainstream as my magazine will try and break into the mainstream. For my distributor I have decided to use Frontline.