Research and Planning: Initial Planning (Front Cover)

After gathering my audience responses from my questionnaire I was able to put together a series of initial plans on what my magazine cover may look like. I used their answers as it will therefore give me ideas on what my target audience would like to see in a new Indie/Rock music magazine.

Idea 1:



I then asked a new set of participants to rate the idea out of ten and gives me both positives, negatives and possible improvements on the idea.

Positives:

• The star - makes it look fun, informal and exciting. It was also the first thing what drew their eye.
• Well layed out - not to cramped or one sided and the star is in the perfect position as it then draws you to the main sell.
• How the masthead is placed - the odd angles, bold letters and size draw your attention to the masthead and establishes a brand image.

Negatives:

• Less writing in the strapine for each point - too much to read and the audience may get bored.
• Main sell could be bigger - so that it draws in the reader.

Possible Improvements:

• Larger main sell
• Short, sharp points in the strapline.

Overall rating: 8/10

Idea 2:



Positives:

• Well spaced out - easy to read and not over crowded. This links with the Indie genre as it therefore focuses on the music and the articles rather than fancy cover designs.
  
• Mainsell is based on a fun design - connotes an informal and youthful to the magazine.

Negatives:

• Boring - Doesn't grab attention as much.
• Some bits too lopsided.

Improvements:

• Add more interesting eye catching points.

Overall: 6/10

Idea 3:



Positives:

• The stars in between the points on the strapline - gives a fun, youthful and interesting feel.

Negatives:

• No set layout - bits everywhere and has no real order to the magazine.
• Too square - boring and doesn't attract your eye.
• The circle is also boring - too plain and doesn't attract your eye.

Improvements:

• Make it more fun e.g. adding stars instead of the circles for the competitions.
• Make the layout more ordered - not everything in the top half.

Overall: 4/10

Overall my target audience preferred the first version. They liked the layout as it was evenly spaced out and the fun star symbol draws the attention to the magazine. The uneven and odd angles also connote the magazines fun, youthful and informal air. The odd angles also help to reflect the Indie music industry as it connotes rebellion against the mainstream magazine layouts and designs. The improvements that they gave were to lessen the writing in each point in the strapline as it will allow the reader to read and gain all the information about the articles in the magazines without having to read lots of information. Finally they said to make the mainsell and coverline stand out more so that it doesn't get overshadowed by the fun and funky star shaped freebies.