Drafting/planning of magazine layout

This is my first draft of my music magazine. I may call my magazine 'house' which is very simple because it links to the genre of music my magazine is going to cover. I've drawn the medium close up, three cover stories, anchorage text, a screamer, barcode and a skyline.

These are the key codes and conventions of a magazine front page; however I have missed out the dateline - I will include this in my second version of my front page draft. 

Research into similar products

For my front page image, I am going to  use a medium close up. It is common to use an MCU on the front page of a magazine. My artist is going to be one singular person so I think an MCU would probably be the best idea.
I have looked at a different range of music magazines where each of them use an MCU effectively on their front page e.g.

Drafting and planning

I am going to use the four main primary colours for the colour scheme for my music magazine. I am going to use blue, red, yellow and green because it promotes the house music edge. Dance music is very bold and this makes a connection between the colours I am going to choose. I think all four colours work quite well together. The colour scheme will entice readers but it won't draw attention away from the main stories.

However, I did not make this decision spontaneously. Magazine's that I have previously looked into display these bright colours and make them work well together. An example of this is DJ magazine:

In this issue of DJ, the colour scheme works really well because it makes the magazine appear quite edgy and modern. The different colours present a sense of a  busy, full magazine that has lots to offer. 

In my magazine, the use of colour scheme will be very important. I must ensure that the way I use the colours really compliment each other. I will have to use a colour scheme that is centered around the artist. This means that the four main primary colours will be a successful colour scheme for me to use because it will create emphasis on my artist and make them seem really prominent. 

Research into similar products

These are some examples for skylines on three different music magazines.

If I include a skyline on my music magazine it could offer different things e.g. it may give the audience a chance to win something or get something for free. However, like NME shows: it doesn't always have to be an offer - it could be exclusive information. 

DJ magazine shows that:

Likewise, the skyline of DJ magazine shows that there is something available inside the magazine.

If I include a skyline in my magazine it will link to DJ magazine's because it's a magazine that is the same genre as mine. I think my skyline will offer something like '10 pages of posters of your favourite artists' so that it has some connection to my magazine of inspiration.

I also like how the skyline colour links to the colour scheme of the actual magazine rather than something bizarre and odd. In my magazine I will use a skyline that links to the colour scheme of my magazine.

Research into similar products

I have researched into some magazine websites:

http://www.qthemusic.com/

http://www.mojo4music.com/

http://www.factmag.com/

By looking at these websites I can have a clear idea of what kind of artists to include in my magazine. It will show what people are interested in lately in the music industry. I'll then know what to include on my front page or contents page: what to name my cover lines or what my anchorage text would be. These are all successful music magazine's and if my magazine can be somewhat similar I'll be very happy.
By looking at how magazine's develop their popularity elsewhere will help me understand that my magazine needs to include lots of links to different websites i.e. Twitter and Facebook...
Seeing all of these successful artists on the magazine websites will help me go even further to develop an artist image.

Research into similar products

Each of these three music magazines feature my specific genre of music e.g. dance/electronic music.

They feature big, bright mastheads and eye-catching main cover stories - they all make direct mode of address which means that they will connect with the reader and really look at them which invites them into the magazine. I like the example of DJ magazine because the artist looks really smug and mysterious and this will make the reader want to know why.
 The colours are clearly chosen to scream at the reader as the schemes are great contrasts. I will use these colours in my magazine to be successful. I specifically like the edition of mixmag because the colours used make the front page appear like a nightclub rave - I want to display the same effect in my magazine.
 The magazine covers look very busy which reflect the style of music. There are lots of cover lines  which shows an element of busyness... This also links to the genre of music. I will use numerous cover lines to make my magazine seem full and lively which connects not only to these inspiring magazines, but the style of music my artist will produce. In the elektro edition, the use of the swear word makes the artist seem rebellious and lively - this fulfills the usual personality of a dance music artist.
 I hope to construct a magazine with a similar appearance to mixmag especially as it's very popular.

Drafting and planning: investigating typography

My least favourite is cover C as you wouldn't associate this with a typical music magazine. This doesn't seem professional because it appears quite childish - it may be a little too simple for a magazine cover.

However, my most favourite cover is E because it's in capital letters which is a typical convention of cover stories on music magazines. The font is bold and simple - there's a link between the font in the masthead and the font in the cover story. The font entices the reader because of its simplicity and I understand that simplicity is the essence; usually if the fonts are too fancy they're hard to read yet the font on cover E shows a sense of clarity.

I'd rank in order of the most likely used font to less likely: B, F, A and D. This is because fonts B and F are relatively similar as they're quite clear yet not as bold and effective as font E. Although I think the fonts A and D are less likely to be used on a magazine front page because they're lower case and do not show any immediate importance. They just appear to be a little too plain and not as eye-catching as perhaps font E, but more mature and simple than font C.