House Style and Masthead of my Magazine- PLANNING

Ideas for Magazine Names

 

Thoughts behind name ideas...

•Alternative Sound – this potential magazine name makes a link between the alternative music genre my magazine will be catering for/focusing on and also to music itself by using the word ‘sound’.

•Misshapen Sound – misshapen defines as not having the normal or natural shape or form; I feel this contributes to my idea of having an indie rock magazine because ‘indie’ stands for individual, which is exactly what members of my target audience are. Misshapen suggests being different and alternative to the norm. Again, ‘sound’ makes the direct link to music itself.

•Rock Not Roll – my magazine music genre is ‘indie rock’ meaning it isn’t heavily reliant on just rock music bands or solo artists, by including “Not Roll” suggests to readers that there are other aspects to my music magazine of another genre.

•Plectrum – a plectrum is a thin flat piece of plastic, tortoiseshell, or other slightly flexible material held by or worn on the fingers and used to pluck the strings of a musical instrument such as a guitar. I feel this makes a direct link to music magazine concept. “Plectrum” also sounds quite quirky/cool and electric as such; suggesting volume which contributes to the ‘rock’ aspect.

•Effortless – this was my first initial idea regarding a name for my magazine. I feel that people who are ‘indie’ obtain their style effortlessly because it’s their way of life and how they naturally are.

•Distinct – distinct defines as ‘recognisably different in nature from something else of a similar type’ which highlights the simple fact that the target audience I am aiming to appeal to within my music magazine are all different in the respect that they don’t follow crowds or mainstream fashion trends.

•Unorthodox – unorthodox is contrary to what is usual, traditional, or accepted (not orthodox) so would fit with the idea of being different and individual from my target audience.

•Unorthodox Sound – adding ‘sound’ allows a connection to be made to music/my music magazine.

•Unorthodox Audio – audio is sound that is recorded, transmitted or reproduced which makes a connection with bands or solo artists music that would have had to go through the ‘studio’ and recording process.

•Unorthodox Blare – I feel as though ‘Blare’ emphasises the indie rock genre my music magazine will cater for – ‘blare’ is in relation to sound and describes a loud noise which fits with the ‘rock’ element to my magazine. It will also reflect the loud personalities within individuals who my music magazine is aimed at.

Market Research - Which name do you prefer?

I felt conducting some market research would be essential when choosing my magazine name. I asked 50 people (between the ages 15-25 which is my target audience) which magazine name they preferred out of my 10 ideas/options.

 

 

Chosen Magazine Name

From my market research I have concluded that my magazine name will be 'Unorthodox Blare' due to the majority of my target audience preferring this name as opposed to other names such as 'Unorthodox Audio' which received zero appeal. I decided to follow through with which name most appealed to my target audience because my opinion may not necessarily be the same as there's, meaning I'm creating a magazine that won't appeal to them at all.

 

Below are various ideas for the font of a potential masthead design. I will again ask members of my target audience which they prefer and using this information will progress with my planning of my house style.

I have decided my font for my masthead will be ‘            ‘ because I feel the font is quirky and quite different to other fonts – much like my target audience with their individuality.

First idea for my masthead design - having the 'X' as the biggest letter which could become a logo for the magazine itself. The 'X' is big and bold like my target audience and also the bands/solo artists within the magazine content which allows it to link nicely.

Second idea for my masthead design - experimenting with colour. My magazine is aimed at both male and females from the ages 15-25 so colour scheme/palette is key in order to appeal to both. This design idea purely demonstrates that I have both sexes in mind; with the colour pink being associated with females and blue with males. The pastel look of these colours is done so to link with an 'indie' feel.



Third idea for my masthead design - purple provides a balance between male and female appeal; it is said that both sexes are drawn to the colour purple due to it not being particularly feminine or masculine either. I decided to have a bright colour of purple for this design because the brightness could communicate loud, confident personality to the readers/target audience which could be aspiring.  

Forth idea for my masthead design - from looking at a lot of other music magazine covers, such as Kerrang, Revolver, Q, etc. I notice all have rather simplistic yet bold masthead designs; for example Kerrang has a masthead that is bold but has cracks in the writing which reflects the loud bands/artists that are within the magazine - it reinforces the volume from the actual music. I felt this masthead design looks quite indie due to the shape of the 'O's' and actual font type itself.



Fifth idea for my masthead design - again, looking at the colour purple to appeal to both sexes.

Sixth idea for my masthead design - for this design I wanted to add something that would make the masthead stand out from other music magazines - the large 'X' turned on its side adds character and makes a direct link to the masthead itself with the 'x' at the end of the word 'unorthodox'. I have experimented with the layout of lettering by spacing the letters out and allowing a gap between each one - I feel this takes away the bold look that a masthead should have to attract and get noticed by readers.




Seventh (AND LAST!) idea for my masthead design - this design idea is very, very similar to the design above - but I have made the text bolder and avoided putting any space between letters- this makes the masthead look bold and noticeable. I have kept the 'X' in the background to keep the character and individual design.

 

Market Research - Which (masthead) design do you prefer?

I asked 50 members of my target audience which masthead design they preferred. I did this by simply showing them each design and tallying their answers.

 

This simple 'Unorthodox Blare' masthead design
proved the most popular, having 13 people choose
it as their favourite.

 

Chosen design for masthead

I decided to have this masthead as my chosen design because it was the most popular option in my market research from individuals from my target audience. I received plenty of positive feedback about this masthead in particular, like it was "simplistic but effective" and the font was "cool" and "not too much". Many of the target audience said that they would be attracted to a magazine with this masthead as it fits the indie rock genre from the letters being in different shapes- like the o's which look like triangles (triangles are highly associated with indie/hipster trends).

 

 

 

 

Dominant Font

Ideas for dominant font...

• Arial Black

Bold Version: Arial Black

• Stencil

Bold version: Stencil

• Lucida Sans Typewriter

Bold Version: Lucida Sans Typewriter

• Arial Rounded MT Bold

Bold Version: Arial Rounded MT Bold

• Elephant

Bold Version: Elephant

• Cambria

Bold Version: Cambria



I want the dominant font of my magazine to be bold yet easy to read. I have concluded I will use Arial Black but this decision may change when putting my magazine together based on what looks best.

Colour Scheme/palette - Ideas

Monochrome palette - I believe a monochrome palette is both effective and would apply to the 'rock' element of my magazine but when thinking about the age range of my target audience which is 15-25 I feel this palette is too mature and would appeal to people of an older age.

This colour palette has colours that appeal to both male and female individuals - I feel there is a balance between colours and they all correspond/fit with each other well. This gives the magazine some vibrancy which is important when competiting with other music magazines - I believe this colour palette would be noticed and appealing due to it's vibrancy. 

This colour palette is purely experimental whilst I was looking at colours that would appeal to both sexes or perhaps balance the colours within the magazine's colour palette. Red and pink would clash and I feel the colours are too broad to correspond with each other, which may make my font cover look tacky and unprofessional.

Experimenting with pastel colours - pastel colours proved popular in my market research but I feel they don't look effective enough and would prove tricky to be noticed. The lack of vibrancy clashes with the 'rock' element within the music magazine genre; it doesn't make sense to have such calm colours combined with a loud music genre.

Chosen colour scheme/palette

I have decided to use this colour scheme as my chosen choice of colours for my house style because I believe they all correspond well with each other and have such a balance that they would appeal to both male and female individuals. This colour scheme isn't too masculine or too feminine either, thanks to monochrome colours such as black and white. The colours yellow and orange also allow for the palette to involve a male and female audience - the colours blue and red are quite masculine but combined with the rest of the colours within the palette will look less like it is aimed at males.  

House Style Inspirations

 

KERRANG!

I feel the house style of KERRANG! inspired me on several of my decisions with regards to my own house style for my magazine. I admire the cluttered layout KERRANG! have, having a busy form that doesn't come across as tacky or too much- the layout fits the music genre's featured within the content of the magazine and is appropriate/enticing. By looking at the above images of examples of some of KERRANG!'s issues, you will notice their colour palettes are both bright and appealing, the mix of bright colours with images enables the colours to not be too vibrant and overwhelming, which is something I hope to achieve when creating my own magazine front cover. I also admire the way majority of the dominant images KERRANG! displays on their front covers conceals the masthead of the magazine which contributes to the concept of them being established and popular. It communicates readers trust them and that they are well recognised, which is always a positive when competing with other music magazines. KERRANG! inspired me on my chosen colour palette: white, blue, red, orange, yellow and black. Some of these colours are incredibly vibrant, but they all correspond well with each other and 'fit'. I feel choosing these colours emphasise how my magazine is aimed at both genders, by having neither too feminine or masculine colours- the balance is definitely there. KERRANG! inspired me to do this because their colour palette is very similar, and from my research I noticed they have a large amount of both female and male readers, meaning the colour palette is successful to entice them.