Photography Planning

Photography planning

I take a wide variation of photos for my artists. I think with my main artists "Zachary Thorne" I will find a plain background and make all of the focus on him. I will experiment with having a woodland/ urban background, and see what affects I can use on the background such as increase the apeture and changing shutter speed.

Examples:

I will adjust the photo's filters so that the foreground is very crisp and focused, but the background is faded. I will keep the shutter speed a fast speed, so that the image doesn't blur.

Artist Photography
Wearing:
Suit and tie/ bow tie
Casual T-shirt

Background:
Woodland
Plain white
Plain blue

Poses:
Sitting
Standing looking away frond camera
Looking through the lens

Props:
Sunglasses

Here are a few test photos I took to experiment with aperture, zoom and other features:

Artist Planning

Artist Planning

Name: Zachary Thorne
Background: Well off middle class family, grew up in America, only child, very strong social media presents, has previous modelling experience
Story: Moved to LA for record deal, has blown up ever since

Supporting Artists:

Theo Chambers:

Working Class, english, large family, very modest, not very well known

Wing Men:

Group from the Uk, very stylish, play lots of instruments

House Style Planning

Fonts:

My favourite typeface is Tunga because it is easy to read, and not too serious, which is good for the style of my magazine. When people see a font they immediately thing of different things associated to that font, so I don't want to use a font that is overly office- like, and use one more "bouncy". My font will be around a size 12 for the main feature article text, the coverlines will be a size 14, and the masthead will be above a size 30.

Colour Scheme:

To choose my colour scheme I made a visual aid to help make my choice, and then asked my target audience which ones their favourites were, and then I made an outline of a cover page that represents the chosen colour together and how they work on the page.

The colours I have chosen are very bright and possibly even garish, but they stand out extremely well, so hopefully it will draw more attention to the magazine

I think I will replace yellow with green, as it suits my photography more, and is less painful to look at

Masthead Typeface

1. Aharoni
Very easy to read, has bold elements, and stands out. It has san serrifs, which makes it look like quite a masculine typeface, and isn't very appealing on the eyes.

2. Copperplate Gothic Bold
Good spacing between each letter, has serrifs, and is good to look at

3. LilyUPC
This typeface is a bit bland, and would be better used as a coverline font, but not the masthead

4. Kunstler Script
Looks like handwriting, but is barely visible and not viable as a mast head typeface

5. Magneto
Very appealing to look at, and is quite easy to read. It stands out very well, and looks good as a masthead

6. Old English Text MT
Looks different and could be a masthead font, but it is not an appealing text to read

7. Poplar Std
Very bold and stand out, but it is a bit bland and doesn't appeal to me

8. Rosewood Std Regular
Very eye catching and looks good as a masthead, but equally looks a bit tacky and not very professional

9. Showcard Gothic
Very bold and stands out, but it might be a bit too cartoon-like for a magazine

10. Wide Latin
Bold and big, but not appealing at all. Looks to simple

11. Traditional Arabic
Far too plain and doesn't stand out at all

12. Stencil Std
Very bold, easy to read and looks good. It also suits the idea of "infamous", so I think I will choose this one

Name Ideas

Name Ideas

Infamous: This name shows the kind of people that will be featured on the magazine, and gives a strong sense of power and influence, and is a bold name

Acclaimed: This is a slightly softer, less aggressive name, that shows that only the most popular artists will be on the magazine.

Commend: This is not as strong as the other two, as it sounds like it will be recognising new bands, as a  pose to informing about the biggest bands.

Eulogise: This word has a strong meaning, but doesn't sound catchy and lots people asked me what it means, so it is not a well enough known word

Glorify: It has very positive connotations, but is not memorable enough

1st: Infamous: 7

2nd: Acclaimed: 6

3rd: Commend: 1

3rd: Eulogise: 1

4th: Glorify: 0

Readership and Character profile

Readership Profile

Age: 25+
Gender: Neutral
Lifestyle: Out of education, full time job, earning around £30,000 a year.
Class: A/ B1
Relationship status: Undefined. Often will be single, unless in a music loving relationship
Hobbies: playing musical instruments, social gatherings, relaxing whilst watching TV
Likes: The biggest bands, and the older legends of music
Dislikes: R&B, electronic music
Income: Relatively disposable, They set aside a small amount of money each month to spend on music
Relatable brands: Apple, Jack Wills, BMW, Range rover
Media Consumption: YouTube, Spotify, Cinema, previously read NME, watches music channel such  as MTV TV

Character Profile:

Chris is a 27 year old office worker that lives on the outskirts of London in a one bedroom apartment, who drives a BMW M5, and recently moved in with his girlfriend, who works as a sales assistant in a supermarket. He puts aside £1,500 a month for rent and bills, and spends the rest on music and leisure activities. He spends most nights with his girlfriend and their friends listening and playing music, and then goes out with them on Friday and Saturdays to clubs and bars.
Chris' music taste is of the biggest and the best, and worships the celebrity lifestyle. He plays the guitar, and tries to learn the newest and best songs to impress his friends. He used to read NME, and is looking for another big magazine to become invested in. He likes going to festivals, but only the biggest, such as Reading and Leeds. He is constant competition with his friends to be the most musical, and goes to great length to achieve it.

Target Audience Planning

Music Magazine Target Planning

Idea 1:

Genre: Music Celebrities. The magazine would focus on the celebrity, as a pose to the brand of the magazine

Age: Young adults, median age of about 25

Gender: Female

Class: Middle/ working class

Visual ideas: Big Masthead, Bold, standout text, Famous musician in the middle

I like this idea because it is a good looking magazine, that will look professional, and classy. I think its strengths are its visual appeal and

Idea 2:

Genre: Pop and Hip hop
Age: Teenagers 13-16
Gender: Female
Class: Working
Visual ideas: Big cover lines about the artist, lots name drops around the out side of the image

Idea 3:

Genre: Fashion and music

Age: 16 to 25

Gender: Male

Class: Upper/ middle

Visual ideas: Lots of poses, very good looking musician, trends and styles

Target Audience

Audience Research Questionnaire:


What genre of music are you into?

• Hip Hop
• Rap
• Rock
• Classical
• Pop
• Other (Please state)________________________________________

What sort of music artists are you into?

• Music Celebrities
• Up-coming bands
• Older Artists

How often do you read music magazines?

• Every Day
• Every week
• Every Other Week
• Every Month
• Sometimes (not on a regular basis)
• Never

What new, original music magazine would interest you? (please state)

________________________________________________________

What magazine gets your attention in the shops?

• The one with the biggest artists
• The most well know
• The one with the best layout
• The one with the best cover lines
• The one with the best masthead

What sort of colours do you look for in a magazine?

• Bold, "aggressive" colours
• Pastel, calm colours
• Fade, soft colours
• Other (Please state)_______________________________________

What sort of font for the masthead do you find appealing?

• A simple, plain font
• An intricate, complicated font
• A cartoon style font

What colour do you think the masthead should be?

• Bold and block or Faded and soft
• Multicoloured or Plain

What is important an important design feature for the magazine to have? (Please State)

__________________________________________________________

What kind of relationship do you want to have with the magazine?

• Very personal, open and everything is directed at the reader
• Professional, the magazine is there to give you information

Feature Article Analysis 2

Billboard Feature Article Analysis

Feature Article Analysis 1 Part 2

Q Magazine Feature Article Analysis Page 2

Feature Article Analysis 1 Part 1

Q Feature Article Analysis Page 1

Contents Page Analysis 1

Q Magazine

Contents Page

Front Cover Analysis 2

Billboard Front Cover Analysis

Front Cover Analysis 1

Q magazine

Front Cover analysis

House style:

The Q house style is very defined, as you can see in every one of its magazines a big red Q, with red subtitles around the magazines, and often white writing and colouring. Often the artists featured are centred and looking straight down the camera lens

Target Readership 2

Vibe

Target readership:

The target age group of Vibe is 18- 34 years old

They are into music, celebrity gossip and lifestyles

The magazine achieves this by using lots of gossip-style cover lines. "Kanye West 'I am rap'

The average reader will be more interested in the big artists, as a pose to finding out new talent

This magazine does this by advertising the biggest names, and doesn't show off the newer artists

Vibe has a younger target audience than Q, because Vibe is a newer magazine, so less people will read it for that feeling of nostalgia

The magazine is gender neutral, using a range of stereotypical colours (blue and pink). and not suggesting a strong feeling towards a particular sex

The magazine does not appeal to any one race, because it uses a variation in the types of artists, such as race religion and gender

Target Readership 1

Q Magazine

Target Readership:

The average reader is 34 years old

They are normally male, but the magazine is relatively gender neutral

They are normally employed

They are crazy about music

They are in a relationship of some sort, probably with someone else who is music obsessed

They easily make friends with other music lovers

They spend a lot of money on music

They go to concerts or festivals, streams music and buys lots of CDs

They listen to any genre of music

They like to keep up to date with all of the latest news and gossip of the music world

They like to listen to the stories that artists have to tell

They like to feel involved with the magazine, which is what the magazine allows, through its review section

They have a good sense of humour

They like discovering new bands

But they also have their select few favourite bands

They like a good quality magazine. 

The higher the cost, the higher the sales

They will be interested in the magazines history, such as the 25th anniversary of the magazine

They will want a nostalgic feel of the big, red "Q", but that also the modern, stylish design, such as the font used for "Jessie J"

Music Press

Music press from 1950 onward

1950’s music media

Aimed at men

Colours are basic, probably due to lack of technology

No CGI, but a little editing in the background

Function of media:

When the first magazines came out, people could feel 

more of an emotional attachment to their favourite artists. 

It drew peoples attention to music, and helped keep people 

up to date with the music world

1970’s music Media

Plain backgrounds

Less writing than nowadays

Easier to read

More of a celebrity image

Function of media:

Now those magazines were bigger and a more prominent

 in the public’s eye, lots of young people would go down

 to their local shop, to find out the music news that week.

 NME

Paper magazine to internet magazine

Fell to 50,000 sales from 200,000 sales in the 90’s

Only 1,200 subscribers on their website, so this shows a 

decline in interest

Function of media:

At first, NME would have been one of the biggest music 

magazines out there, but since the advance in technology, 

people get most of their information on social media and 

the Internet. Due to lack of sales, NME had to stop their 

paper magazine, and become a free, Internet magazine.

Present day

Front cover is more crowded than the 70’s.

 i.e. more cover lines and complicated house style

Lots more editing. This could be because of better technology,

 or because of society’s views of how 

celebrities should look.

More about the image as a pose to the music

Completely plain backgrounds

Colours are much more vibrant, and follow much 

more of a scheme. This is because the magazine will have 

built up and image over the many years, so they will 

keep the colours the same to be recognisable.

Same masthead as 50 years ago. Big, bold, often capital letters.

Function of media:

For people’s biggest celebrities to promote themselves,

 and to show that they are still relevant.

 An artist might go on a magazine if they are about to

 release a new album, or if there is gossip to talk about