Organisation/Research into similar products

I have been looking at different contents pages of mixmag magazine:
I have noticed that there are many different kinds of shots/images - they range from close ups, to medium shots, to long shots...
This provides me with the choice of which kind of shot to choose as my magazine has the same target audience as mixmag.

I think however, my favourite use of shot is a medium close up because not only does it draw attention to the artists facial expression but also surroundings. It is important for me to recognise that many of the images for mixmag magazine are taken with the background of what looks like to be a concert or club. I will use this as an influence in my contents page images.

Target audience

The main target audience for mixmag music magazine is:
A person with the median age of 24, single and living in a city.
Mix mag readers are 72% male and 28% female.

I found this information on the website: http://issuu.com/mixmagfashion/docs/mediapack2013

This is similar to my target audience for my music magazine; linking back to my post on the 12th of November, my target audience is predominantly ages 16-25. I think my target audience will be 50-50 aimed at men and women as the music is not preferable to either gender.

I have successfully chosen a magazine to mirror as it has the same demographic as mine.

Target Audience

Referring back to my blog post on the 6th of November - the analysis of a mixmag double page spread:

To appeal to the same target audience I created a similar spread for my draft:

By using the mixmag spread as inspiration I attempted to reflect this when constructing my draft. Hopefully this will appeal to the same demographic and I will use this as a basis when producing my final double page spread. I also put my artist image on the RHS of the DPS and added a space to include a quote. Similarly to the mixmag DPS, I put the heading on the top left corner and the article underneath. I also wrote the article in columns like all magazine's do. 

When using this I will be able to create a successful DPS because I'm sticking to the generic conventions of double page spreads and using a magazine of the same genre for influence. I think my magazine will be a success if I follow this basis. The only thing I'd change is the image of the artist and the white background - I'd make it a more lively colour. 

Tracker Progress

When looking at the tracker progress, I have noticed that I am beginning to cover all areas of 'research into similar products', 'organisation', 'target audience' and 'drafting and planning'. My main target for improvement on my blog posts is addressing my target audience more regularly; I also need to post more about my organisation. I will now focus my posts on these two areas.
But overall I am happy with my number of blog posts so far as I am currently on 32 according to the tracker.

Drafting and planning

From my draft of the contents page and double page spread somebody in my class assessed what I did well and what I could do to improve in the future:

My peer assessor said that 'you understood how there can be great cohesion throughout a magazine through coverstars, fonts and the attitude of the articles'... 'I like where you have placed the pull quotes and how you have put the coverstar in the centre of the contents'.

To achieve marks my peer assessor said that 'you can draw ideas from the positioning of the coverstar and distribution of text and image'.

To improve on my drafting, my peer assessor said that I should 'keep in mind how mixmag lays out their magazine, think about proportions and maybe use a different font that's more dynamic for the pull quotes unless it goes against the ethos of the magazine'.

To improve and achieve on my final music magazine I will think about how typical mixmag magazines use the codes and conventions so they will be reflected in my magazine. I could also stick to the ethos of my magazine and take better quality images and edit them to make them distinctive to all secondary images in my magazine.

Organisation

For my drafting of my contents page and double page spread I had to take many different images and chose the most successful ones. I made sure that I wore the same outfit to make a connection to the front page image. I used many different poses so that I'd have a wide range to choose from. This ensures that I make a consistent, coherent and holistic approach.
Here are some of the photographs I took:

Drafting and planning

This is my publication plan:

My publication plan will be a huge help when I'm constructing my magazine because it will act as a guideline. In this way, if I go off track it will lead me in the right direction. For every step I undergo in the making of my magazine, I will refer back to my publication plan because it will act as my advocate. It will offer reminders of what my magazine is all about. 

I am happy that my publication plan will help my magazine to be a success because everything included in it sticks to the generic conventions of music magazine's e.g. the frequency, price, distributor, rationale, style etc.