Customer Profile.

My customer profile will look at a specific person, who i believe to be an ideal fit to my target audience and say what stereotypically makes them within the desired target audience range.


Target Audience: Alternative Rock music fans
                                                                    
 Target Age Range: 13-23

My magazine will be aimed at fans of Alternative rock music. this customer profile is looking at who i see as a prime example of someone who would buy the genre of magazine that i intend on creating. The person in the picture is Tom.  Tom is how I view my typical customer and people like him will be my target audience. The reason i believe this to be my sort of audience is because he fits the criteria for the stereotypical Alternative/ Punk rock genre.

Tom is a hardworking Uni student, studying a music degree and who has his own small-time, big dreaming band. As you can tell, music is his passion and he and his band play regular gigs in small venues and clubs. the music his band plays is alternative rock as Tom and his bandmates really follow that genre of music. Due to this love for Alternative Rock, it influences much of his life, and loves to keep up with the latest news, goings on and new releases that happen in the alternative rock world. Because of all this, I see Tom as a potential ideal target for the sale of my magazine.

His physical appearance is what indicates to me that he is the sort of person that would buy my magazine. His long, dyed, brushed over hair represents that of  what is classically seen as related to the rock genre. Also, he has a large amount of tatoos all the way down one arm which your average popstar would be unlikely to have, this tattoo sleeve is popular amunst many rock artists and is often assocciated with 'Punk' or alternative rock artists.

Although Tom is older than a teenager, he is still in his earlier 20s which still fits in my target age group. The fact he is a young adult gives him the right to purchase the magazine knowing what sort of things to expect and is responsible for the purchase of the magazine, whiles till being young enough to enjoy it.

People like Tom might have just come out of University or due to his age, still in university, which means funds might be low, and a young teenager may not have a job leading to not having much money, so this has to be taken into account when sticking a price tage on the magazine, possibly making it reasobaly cheap, but certainly making it affordable.

Magazine Double page spread: Deconstructions.

The layout to this double page spread is pretty basic, you have the main heading or in this case, the main quote forming the heading. Then you have the article, which is formed into pretty standard layout of coloms and then the main image of the feature of the article, in this case it's Lily Allen. The Lettering in the title is styled as if the letters have been cut out indiviually then stuck down to make the words which give it this disorganised feel which could be a reflection on Lily Allen's life as she is often in the headlines for occasionally contreversial reasons. The Fonts and and colours are very bold, which could be a representation on Lily Allen's Personality as a bold character or as a 'What you see is what you get' kind of person. The image is quite strong and she has her hands on her hips while leaning forward making her seem strong asnd controlled which along with the bold fonts in the quote could tie in nicely with the statement she makes, " People think i'm an attention seeker, but i'm just honest" which is a very strong and bold statement to say. Lily Allen is a well known figure in not just the music industry but general public also for her sometimes contreversial behaviour, which makes her well known, so using her as the main article for the issue of the magazine could attract even more people than just the fans of her music or indie music, as she is an interesting character for more than just her music.




 This is a double page spread from Rolling Stone Magazine. The first page is the article and the second is a photograph of Katy Perry. The main colour scheme of the spread is black, white and blue. This gives the spread a classy and professional design, as Rolling Stone is quality magazine. However the image in contrast is very sexual, with Katy Perry in little clothing and exposing a lot of flesh. This is to attract a male audience, with Katy Perry been seen as attractive and a sex icon. And it allows a female audience to aspire to look like the artist and be like her, gaining both the artist and magazine an audience. When This issue was published, Katy perry's wedding to Russell Brand was approaching which could be why she is in a kitchen cooking, Doing her new 'Wifely' duties to her husband to be, However, she is still wearing very little clothing, showing that she still has the same sex appeal she has always had and that although she is getting married, she is still the woman she was before, that could be what they are suggesting. On the text side of the page the layout is pretty much basic, it has a white background so you can clearly see the writing and is the text is organised into neat easy to read columns. The main Title is actually in the middle of this page instead of at the top where you would usually find it and says " Underneath her brassiness" which is telling us that the article is going to let us see the real Katy Perry which could interest readers. The fact that she is wearing little clothing makes it appealing to males but also the fact that she is a woman also makes it more apppealing to women.




 It contains a large mid-long shot taking up the first page and two inset pictures. It clearly follows the rule of thirds due to the three columns. The words ‘The best MCR’ fall across to the previous page, this way the reader knows that the two pages belong together. The article contains a very limited amount of text. This could be due to the band being a rock band, meaning that they did not give as much information or it could just be to show the laid back context of the band in the recording studio. The tricolour scheme of red, black and white Fits really well with My Chemical Romance as traditionally it was there colours, in their younger days they wore these colours in their videos and the colour scheme for one of their old albums contained the same 3 colours. Besides that, the name ‘My Chemical Romance’ could mean that the red is  to do with love, or the red could stand for the Rock vibe that MCR have.

Magazine Contents Pages: Deconstruction.

The Kerrang contents page is very similar to the front cover in terms of the colour schemes. The contents is positioned at the top left hand side of the page in a non serif bright yellow font. Kerrang's contents page has a rather large picture in the top half of the page of an artist, in this case it's Bring me the Horizon's Oli Sykes signing autographs. The actual contents of the magazine is shown in the bottom half of the page with bright yellow headings so you can clearly see which section is which. it has a good mix of Text and Imaging to draw your attention then inform you on that particular article. Although there are a few images on this page the fact that The Bring me the Horizon image is the largest, taking up half the page, suggests that they are the main feature of that weeks issue



 

The Main image of the page of Kasabian which tells us that they will be the main article, there is the picture then a little passage talking about the article. NME uses sub-headings so the reader can easily find the article they want to read. This is a convention that alot magazines use. In NME it is divided into six parts News, Radar, Reviews, Live, Features and Plus. The features on the contents page would appeal to their target audience because they would be band they are familiar with and information they would be interested in. On the left hand side is a band index advertising all the artists that are featured in that issue and there are page numbers so the reader knows what page they are featured on. NME uses Red, black and white on both the contents page and the front cover as it is the colours of the magazine.




The target audience of NME music magazine is late teens till middle aged people, also they want to target it towards The fans of the Rock genre. This is because not many young teens or very old people listen to this type of genre Rock and if they do it is only a minority that do so. Another target audience for this type of magazine/content page would be for the audience fans who like to be like the band that has been represented on this contents page. The masthead on this contents page has been created in a black bold font on top of a white background. Next to this is the logo of the NME music magazine, this has been placed on the white background and the logo NME has been created in red with a space outlined with a black outline which makes a white border then a black outline to the logo. The left hand side has a red background and contains the Band Index, this includes different band names and artists. On the right hand side of this contents page There are sub headings in white bold text and black backgrounds on the fonts, these show the latest News, Radar, Reviews, anything that is appearing Live and finally what the magazine Features.

Image Deconstruction: Magazine covers

 This is the front cover of an issue of Kerrang magazine that is for the genre of alternative rock/ rock artists and bands. From this cover, you can see a very large, central image of a woman (Hayley Williams), This is a very strong image that takes up most of the cover and even covers part of the Masthead and title which suggests the main article in the magazine will be about her and her band. Her facial expression is very much one of being carefree backed up by the fact she is using her fingrs to swear at the camera which shows rebelliousness and 'Teenage angst' but her face and body language shows that she is unbothered by it. The cover has very bold colours on it, with he bright red top that Hayley Williams is wearing Matches the colour of her hair. The word "Paramore" is prited largely across the middle of the page, which again, suggests to the reader that they are they main feature of the magazine. There are images of males and females on the cover so this means that the cover would appeal to both male and female audiences. Having said that, the fact that Hayley Williams is such a large image and that she seems like a strong, bold figure, is hinting towards women power. She is making eye-contact witht he camera which makes the image more engaging and connects a lot more with the reader of the magazine. The title "kerrang" Appears to be broken or smashed, which reflects the madness and mayhem of the Alternative rock genre or, because the slogan for Kerrang is "Life is loud!", it could also be that the music is so loud that it is cracking the title like glass. The cover has more lures on it, with advertisements  of Free posters and other articles on other bands on the inside, so it has far more appeal to a wider audience of readers.

This magazine cover is different to the cover of the Kerrang Magazine but also in some ways it is similar.  The background theming is in the style of an amplifier which immidiately tells the reader that this is a music magazine. Amplifiers such as the one in the background are usually associated with Rock music because they are used for electric guitars, so the reader might make that link and think that it is just another rock magazine. However, The main feature on the cover is Pixie Lott, who is infact a Pop artist, so when the potential readers see that aswell, they will make a link to Pop music. So, the amplifier that suggests the Rock genre and Pixie Lott who suggests the pop genre tells us that there is a more diverse style to the magazine and that it does not just fit to one specific genre. Looking at the front cover, you can easily tell that this is aimed towards a male audience, as there is an attractive female wearing little clothing spread across the cover. she is giving the camera a very sudductive look and this, coupled with the lack of clothing, gives the cover a great sex appeal which would grab the attention of most males. Having said that, the fact that there is a female on the cover would also mean that it appeals to females aswell as males as there are women involed in the magazine so it is not purely based around the wants of men. Also, she is making eye contact which makes it more appealing and helps to connect with the reader or potential reader of the magazine. Mainly across the cover, the colours involved are very basic blacks and whites, which means that when you look at pixie Lott, you are instantly drawn to her bright Purple bra as it stands out very well against the blacks and whites surrounding her, which also ties in micely with my previous sex appeal point. The title of the magazine is done very well, it is made to look like part of the amplfier by putting it where the amplifier's brand name would usually be which makes 'FHM' Look like the Apms brand name, giving it a really good authentic feel. Also, if you look at the little read switch on the Amplifier, you might be able to see that it is glowing read, which shows that the amplifier is turned on, which could be a little well disguised pun, seeing as the Main image and magazine is prodominantly aimed at men, and the image has great sex appeal, that men could be 'Turned on' by it. This is a fairly basic cover, although it does have the amp theme, it doesn't have a lot going on witht hat same crazy feel that Kerrang covers often have, it is a more relaxed sort of cover. So overall, you can see that this cover holds some similarities with the Kerrang issue but in many ways it is different also.

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I really like this Cover, Mainly because of how the colours have been done, Most things on this cover are filled with Bright, vibrant multicolour, for example, the Title 'NME' is in bright pink and his jacket is brightly multicoloured. the background is white though, to make the bright colours stand out alot more, making it very eyecatching due to the bright colours. The only thing that isn't brightly coloured ( besides the background ) is Jimi Hendrix himself, who is in black and white. This could be to keep the classic feel or it could be suggestive to the time that Hendrix came from, showing the age or even the timelessness of his music. but ultimately the fact he is not in colour makes him stand out fromt he rest of the cover from the bright colours and is just generally a really good effect that has been used exccellently. The colours make it very eyecatching and would instantly interest the readers from the moment they pick it up. It's the ' Jimi Hendrix 40th anniversary special' which, obviously, means that the theme throughout the magazine will be Jimi Hendrix, so the target audience for this specific genre will be Hendrix fans. Also, Typically, Hendrix fans tend to be older, and from his time period, so the it might be aimed at an older audience. However, that is not to say that younger people won't find it appealing either. As in the other Covers, he is making eye contact which makes it more engaging and really connects more witht he reader. It's a very strong image and he is standing with his hands on his hips, looking like the cool customer he always was. He is surrounded by little senteces showing key times and events of his life and career, such as his "Isle of White set" which sort of curve around his body, further highlighting him. to a hendrix fan, who might have heard, or even been at such events, this would be a very good and interesting techniqure and effect to use as it will draw their mind back to the ebent or knowledge of the event and depending on the memory being good or bad, maybe encourage them to buy the magazine. It is more simple then the Kerrang cover, despite being brightly covered, but still has more going on than the FHM music issue cover, so it somewhere in between the two, which i have been looking at possibly doing myself for my own magazine cover.

This is my Alternative Rock Moodboard.

Prelimanary Task Evaluation(;

Overall, i am happy with how the final magazine cover turned out. However, at first I did hit a few technical hitches with the software and the Macs, but once they were eventually sorted out, things went reasonably smoothly.  I think my front cover is very eye catching because of the colours and pattern I used for our background. I think I used a strong image as the main image is very large and has lots of contrasting colours to the background which makes it stand out and easy to see. Because of the placement of my image it means that it stands out a lot more because there is not too much whitespace. I think there is some so that people are dawn to the picture and nothing else on the cover. The magazine cover includes lures on the sides to attract the reader and make them want to read on through the magazine and I have used word and small sentences to connect to the reader on the front by offering things they may be interested in because of the fact they are interested in reading a music magazine, For example, "Free interview with Dave Grohl inside". This attracts readers, mainly fans of dave Grohl or his band The Foo Fighters. The background is brightly coloured and stands out against the main image and the text. This makes it all the more eye-cathcing to thr reader so they will be more likely to notice it and encourage them to pick it up and read it.  In all the writing on the front there is a subtext. the writing on the front is trying to get people to read on through the magazine and make sure they are interested so they read it again. this subtext is fairly clear as almost all magazines have this subtext as they want to sell magazines so they have to draw people in. I think mine could have gone better if we had more time as we have problems with cameras, photoshop and software like that.    

Preliminary task: School Magazine cover