Pre-production - Flat-plans/Mock-ups

Please note that found images have been used within these designs as placeholders.

Front Cover

Front Cover - Flat Plans (Final) from Ewan Tough

Contents Page

Initial Sketch - Contents Page

Flat-plan - Contents Page

I decided that the use of white-space would be very important on my contents page for several reasons. Firstly, it would make the page appealing to look at and appear un-cluttered, making the magazine easy to navigate. In addition to this, it creates a refreshing and modern look for the magazine, linking with the identity of my magazine.
From looking at other contents pages, I noticed that a convention was to divide the page into sections, with each section representing a different article style. For this reason, the folios and articles are separated into "Regulars" and "Features", with the "Features" section being given its own page to symbolize that these articles are much larger. I also noticed from my research that contents pages usually have two columns per-page, allowing for more content to be placed on the page without it appearing to be cluttered.

DPS

Pre-production - DPS Flat-plans (AS Media Studies) from Ewan Tough

Interview Plan

Who - Tom Bridge - Local independent musician.

When - Monday 28th November, 12pm-1pm (followed by photoshoot).

Location - Tom's home (outskirts of Norwich, travel by bus).

Interview Style - Conversational/Question & Answer - Allows for a more personal feeling interview.

Questions -

 1. How would you define your music?

2. Have you always been musical?

3. What led to you pursuing music as a career?

4. What is your overall process for creating your music?

5. Apart from creating music, what are your other interests? Are there any cross-overs with music?

6. You just released your first studio album - what’s next for you?

Press Release

A UNIQUE NEW MUSIC MAGAZINE FOCUSED ON DISCOVERING MUSIC.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

8th November 2016. Bauer Media is proud to announce it's upcoming new music magazine, Playlist, which will be available in print and digitally from January 2016. Playlist's main focus will be to recommend and promote music from upcoming or unsigned artists, usually available to listen to on popular streaming services.

Specifically aimed at males and females aged between 16-25, a demographic for which listening to and discovering new music online is a popular activity, Playlist aims to introduce readers into genres they may not be familiar with by featuring inspiring interviews with upcoming artists, a diverse selection of unique playlists, and details of gigs of festivals that readers may be unaware of.

The magazine also has the potential to serve as a launch-pad for new artists by promoting their music to the masses. One key aspect of this publication is its focus on positivity; the magazine will not feature gossip or any sort of criticism of the music featured, setting this magazine apart from many others available.

A print copy of the magazine will cost just £3.50 from a variety of popular retailers, featuring over 100 pages crammed with fresh new sounds, interviews, competitions, as well as a small section covering over forms of media, such as films and television. Our research has also shown an interest in digital distribution, so a discounted digital version of the magazine will be available for £2.99 from popular app stores.

Photoshoot Plan

Location: Various outdoor locations in a suburban area, including: an alleyway, a back garden, and an over-grown looking car park.

When: Monday 28^th November, 1:30pm-3:00pm (to allow for dry weather and natural light).

Who: Tom Bridge, a local independent artist, aged 17. He is the subject of my DPS.

Clothing: A trendy outfit – grey skinny jeans and a white t-shirt with a checked shirt on top.

Props Required: Acoustic guitar (provided by Tom), RODE Microphone (provided by myself).

Camera required: High-quality Cannon DSLR camera with manual focus to create depth.

Pre-production - Masthead Designs

Design 1

For this design, I adjusted the tracking of each individual letter of "Playlist"to make it slightly touching any characters beside it. This creates an eye-catching yet simple design, but if I were to use it, I would need to conduct research to see how quickly my audience is able to read what is written as it could be difficult to read.

I experimented with a variety of colour combinations to see if the masthead would still be effective and not look out of place. This is important as the magazine would usually feature a different image on the cover of each issue, so the colour of the masthead may have to be altered to still be visible to readers and not clash with the cover image.

Design 2

This variation of the masthead takes inspiration from the logo for "Q" magazine. It would be placed in the top/left third of the page, allowing for more space for design features such as cover-lines and puffs. The triangle in the square resembles a play-button, creating a link with music, however, this symbol is more frequently associated with online video content, such as YouTube videos, which could create confusion.

Design 3

This design takes inspiration from Design 1, but this time I used a different font, "Lemon Milk", and removed the tracking between the letters. This font appears to be more modern than the font I used in Design 1, however, it is thinner and therefore less eye-catching. The slimmer design of the font would also make it difficult for the masthead to stand out to potential readers when placed on a magazine rack. In addition to this, the font is very similar to the font used for the masthead of Empire magazine, which could cause confusion and also not make the magazine stand out to potential readers.

Pre-production - Magazine Content

Explanation
I referred back to my magazine analysis, audience research, and some of my own knowledge of magazine conventions to decide what articles should be featured in my magazine, and how many pages they should take up. My audience research showed a large interest in interviews with upcoming artists, so I decided to include eleven double-page spreads (in total) dedicated to this topic, plus a further three dedicated to existing well-known artists. Lists are also a key feature that my audience are interested in seeing in my magazine, so I have included several articles relating to this theme, including an eight-page (4 DPS) feature called "10 Playlists to Star 2017", and another eight-page (4 DPS) article called "5 Genres You've Never Listened To". In the "regulars" section, I included several smaller articles relating to this topic, such as a monthly playlist, and a "reader recommendations" section, encouraging reader interaction with the magazine.
My research also showed an interest in the idea of having a small section dedicated to upcoming film and TV releases, so I have included two double-page spreads, one for film and one for television. I decided that including more pages on this topic would not be suitable for my magazine as music is my main focus point.

I dedicated 15 pages to paid advertorial space, allowing the magazine to have further income to keep the magazine running. My research online showed that full-page advertisements in popular magazines can cost around £17,000 in publications such as GQ magazine (source), however GQ is an established magazine, whereas Playlist is not, so charges would have to be considerably lower in order to attract the attention of companies.

My magazine will cost £3.50 for a print issue and £2.99 for a digital issue (available through services such as Google Play). From looking at similar existing products, I found that these prices are fairly common; a print copy of Q Magazine retails for £3.50, and my research on Google Play's Newsstand showed me that £2.99 is the average price for monthly magazines, with some being sold for more/less. For a 105-page magazine featuring a large number of articles and recommendations, £3.50 and £2.99 are prices that offer value for money, and my audience research shows that a wide majority of my audience have enough disposable income to buy my product.

Pre-production - Initial Names

Idea 1 - Playlist
Why it would work:

• Links in with current music streaming platforms (ie: Spotify).
• Playlists are a key focal point of the magazine.
• Short and to-the-point.

Potential Issues:

• Playlists are also associated with other forms of media, such as YouTube videos, which could cause confusion about the topic the magazine covers.
• This would be resolved by making sure the cover image and cover-lines have a definite link to music rather than YouTube.

Idea 2 - Discover
Why it would work:

• Emphasis could be placed on the word 'Disc' in the title, creating a link with music.
• The main focal point of the magazine is discovering new music.

Potential Issues:

• The magazine puts emphasis on modern music platforms such as streaming. Using the word "Disc" in the title could make the magazine look out-dated and aimed at an older demographic. My research showed that a very small percentage of my target readership still prefers to buy physical copies of music.
• The word "discover" is often associated with other topics, such as travelling, which could cause confusion about the topic of my magazine.
• A magazine called "Discover" already exists, which could cause issues with trademarks as well as confusion for readers.

Idea 3 - TRACK
Why it would work:

• Songs are often referred to as "tracks", creating a link with music.
• Short and snappy.

Potential Issues:

• The word "track" doesn't immediately stand out as being related to music. It can also be related to other topics such as trains, racing, surveillance, and roller coasters. This would result in confusion for readers.

Final Title - Playlist
I have decided on "Playlist" as the final title for my magazine for a number of reasons. Firstly, it has the fewest issues, and any issues it has can easily be resolved. This title also has the most links to the subject-matter of my magazine, with playlists being a key element of the publication.