Layout of front cover, contents and double page spread

With my layouts i have opted for a simple but effective layout. I want my magazine to look sophisticated and not too cluttered. I have chosen this style because its easier to read allowing you to create a primary focus.

House colour choice

This is the blue version of my mast head. I like this idea because its sophisticated and the headphones contrast against the background.

This is the red background version of my masthead. I like the red because it will stand out of the page more, making it more eye catching.

I cant decide which masthead to use so I am going to do a survey.

Making my masthead

Here I am using the Magnetic Lasso tool to remove background from the headphones. I had to make a duplicate image of this image and then deleted the original layer. I then made a plain chequered background layer so when i delete the background, I can put another one in after (block coloured back ground).

Here are my headphones after I removed the background. Some parts didn't come out to smooth so i had to re-try some parts.

This is the final masthead design. I am going to trial different house colours and will be talking about those in the next post.

Here is my other idea of calling my magazine Pause. This was before i decided on my name but i thought i would upload them to show that i have tried other names and methods. I like these ideas but they do not fit into my target audience and style of my magazine.



Target audience

When deciding my target audience I have thought of many factors, for example- whether its aimed at a mass or niche audience, what gender/s, age range, social group etc.
I am aiming my magazine at a niche audience. The genre I am aiming my music at is a retro style- reflecting bands like the Beetles and Rolling stones but with a modern day twist. I have chosen the retro feel because retro is always going to be a fashionable aspect. And as the years go by things that are classed as retro change, this allows the magazine to change so it is not the same all the time.
I will try to appeal to both the male and female gender. I will do this by using colours that appeal to both, such as red. This would not work if I used pink because it is a more specific colour which is aimed at young girls.
The class I am aiming my magazine at is middle class. This is because the majority of people today are middle class citizens, allowing there to be a lot more people who are into that genre of music. This also branches out into upper class citizens and retro and vintage is known to be quite expensive sometimes. The price of my magazine will be £3.00.
The age range of my magazine will be between 16 and 25 because this is the age that people are more concious about fashion. Also this age they start to get jobs so they will be able to afford this magazine.

Video of masthead idea

Magazine analysis number 2

This magazine front cover is for MOJO. The individual is over the mast head, this gives it a 3D feel, this provides an up to date feel which contrasts the theme of the magazine. The overlapping on the Mast head suggests that its a well established magazine so there is no need to show the whole mast head, this allows the readership to feel as if they know the magazine.
This magazine uses a lot of advertisement puffs like 'Plus!' and 'Free' this lures new customers in and keeps current customers. These words grabs their attention and makes them want to buy the magazine and read on creating a loyal audience.
The house colours are black red an white, these appeal to both genders and are very contrasting, allowing each word to stand out against each other. This is a good marketing technique, and I will use similar house colours in my magazine front cover.
There is a Skyline on the top of the front cover, This catches the readers eye because it runs across the top of the image, almost like a headline. This is effective because if it is worded right it could be what persuades the customer to buy the magazine.
The average price of a MOJO magazine is around £4 this shows that it is aimed at middle to upper class people, also the content holds quite old subject matter which could also prove that its aimed at an older audience (30+). Although I have stated that it is for an older audience there is also a chance of it appealing to a younger audience (16-25) because younger people are into fashion, and retro is a big part of fashion today. By the use of men in this front cover it is obvious that it is aimed at males, there is also a factor that females will be interested in it because of the attraction.

Typical features

Here are the typical features of a media magazine.