Sketch ideas for layouts

I have drawn out a variety of layout ideas for my front cover, article and contents in order to visually asses what would look most creative and professional post production. I have also experimented with a variety of different fashion and music magazine styles to fuse both conventions effectively

(Photos to come)

My magazine colour scheme

For the colour scheme of my cover, contents and double page spread I will keep the same 'house style ' for all the strengthen the brand of the magazine, aid to the professional aesthetic and incorporate conventions held already in currant music magazines. The predominate colours I will use are red- connoting sexual liberating, power and strengh, black- connoting the rock and grunge incorporation in my magazine as well as sophistication and white - portraying freshness and youth,to collectively symbolise the ideologies of my magazine. Additional this is a style used my many prestigious magazines int the industry today from which i have derived inspiration from.

My magazine Article

For this article I have taken inspiration from interviews with musician's and celebrities in prestigious magazine such a Elle and Vogue and used a narrative style of writing to break the convention of a 'Q&A' article making it original and also incorporated the fusion between fashion and music our magazine STROBE embodies.

Hot hit teen sensation Luna Lovechild bears all in a in dept in sight into her inspirations, fame and her obsession with fashion and the funky house scene.

Luna walks into the uptown Mayfair hotel lobby,  hair up in a tosseled bun, ripped second skin jeans, a biker jacket and heel boots to match, her only accessories a beloved black berry and the blood red stain of Chanel no.5 on her pouted lips, which may appear to the untrained eye as a world win of madness, but to the world of style and music its another height fashion statement from the it girl of the moment, were all dieing to know.

Luna Lovechild is a national, and soon to be global, sensation due to the realise of her under ground music fusion of punk rock  and funky house beats with controversial lyric's, and maxed out sex appeal.The young star-lett, at the tender age of just 17 took the social internet scene by storm, recevering over a million hits on her myspace page, and over a thousand friends following her on facebook and twitter, fascinated by her innovative music style , combination of catwalk couture and her rebellious and unreserved song subjects. Now two years on her life and music is a constant tabloid frenzy, with everyone dieing to get a piece of her and her new album ‘funked up’ topping the downloads charts with in a matter hours.

I look up and immediately a starbucks decafe is thrust out infrount of me, behind it is a smile of such warmth and innocence that im shocked by. I soon discover from the witty but endearing  introduction and quirky rabbeling that luna is not the high maintenance or garish brat that the press conveys, and nothing like the teen celebrities divas the 21^st century is plagued with. In fact Lula is the opposite of this, despite her very apparent kooky, opinionated outspoken ways, which is much expressed in her music, her personality is far from the arrogant, but instead edgily vulnerable and interesting, the definition of cool an class combined.

As we go though another 2 more coffee she reveals to me, as i ask her about the her rapid popularity and millions of doting fans, her philosophy of not letting the pressure of fame get to her ' i see my life as a blessing,my music is not only an expression from me, but a reflection of my views on life, love and society, i put my soul into my songs, so by putting so much of my self into my music im aware that i make my self vulnerable to criticisms and the problems that fame can bring, but the passion and pleasure i get from not only making music, but performing is worth it all' she says. I ask if shes thinks is all a bit too much to young ' i been singing and performing since the age of 5' she replies ' i craved the stage, the lights and most of all an audience as much as a little girl wants the latest Malibu barbie, so gaining success from what  love the most couldn't have come sooner! I know I can come across overwhelming but that's only because I'm so driven to be not only a singer but an inspiration in this industry '  her honestly and intelligence is striking, and some what beautiful and i eagerly ask her about the controversial subject matters of her songs that have smashed though the charts consecutively, she replies after a long pause ' i think that people are to scared to challenge conventions, to overstep the line or to voice the questions or views that we all secretly think. i see my music as a voice of the people, the voice of my beloved fans, expresses our emotions and most of all the journey of being young and living life to the fullest' This optimistic outlook is refreshing and breaks the boundaries of conventional moody and pessimistic teen stars that we are all so sick of. 

Lula's originality shown though out her life, and especially her music, which is a sub-genre of funky house she says ' is to lift people spirits, feel the beat inside them and get that euphoric feeling of wanting to dance the night away' and rock-indie challenging lyrics that fused together in her music videos. Glancing at my watch i realise that my time with the highly sort-after teen star is almost up, talking with her has been such a breath of youthful fresh air, and the energy and passion she has for her music is so apparent i ask where she finds her inspiration ' I think I'm influenced not by one person or style but a variety, helping me create unique and fresh music' she continues ' in music i an inspired by the likes of legends such a the sex pistols and boy George who embodied the challenging, controversial and statement making concepts that i incorporate in my music, i think such artists also shared my love of fashion to represent their music and what they were all about, Qualities that are also shared with my modern idol Lady gaga who I thinks music is truly amazing, as well as her style that's always pushed to the limits, yet always comes across so glamorous!' Luna smiles, scrunching her noes in a child like manor, reminding me that this insightful, talented and truly stunning singer still has so much time grow and mature as a woman, and female artist. I finish by asking her what ambitions she has or the future and she replies ' I would love to created my own fashion range one day as its my also a very strong passion of mine' and continues boldly ' but for now i want to concur the music word globally, and be an inspiration to the younger generations that shouldn't be afraid of standing out, making a statement of being proud of their views. i want my music to exude glamour, fun and youth power, but also have a serious message about making an impact and not letting anybody stand in the way of you dreams'  

Double page spread pitch

The double page spread I will create an interview with said artist in a colloquial, informal chatty tone to appeal to the teen target audience and the relax and down to earth personality of the artist. Instead of doing a convention music magazine interview layout of question and answer I have decided to incorporate a fashion magazine element in this by presenting the interview in a narrative form including information of the appearance of my artist to portray what she’s all about, it will feature 'access all area' topics will insightful and revealing information and quotes into the lifestyle of a fresh, unique and fashionable young new artist in the currant industry, which will appeal the to the exposed celebrity culture of the teen generation today. 

The artist I will have appear on my cover, contents and artical

The artist i will be featuring on the cover, and double page spread of my magazine issue is one which I have created,  modelled and represented by a co member in my group. The fresh new artist echoes the overall theme of the music focusing largely on using fashion as a semiotic to convey the ideologies of the artist as not only a musician but a brand. 

By calling her Luna Lovechild, immediately connoting with contradictive and challenging ideas who’s music echoes this through controversial, unreserved, sexually liberating lyrics, portrays a rebellious rock image that challenges society, but also combines with a visually glamorous appearances in music videos, photo shoots and echoed is the funky house influences that convey a middle class, pleasure and wealth seeking lifestyle demographic. I have chosen to created an artist like this for my issue as I believe it will not only widen the target audience but fill a nesh gap in the market for a magazine that is target at teens that want a fusion of anti authority ideologies as well a appeal and aspiration class and glamour. 

When stylising my artist, I focused on portray this image by getting inspiration from current artist in the industry who although embody a indie rock fashion image still appear glamorous and sexy. I created this look by using conventions used across the music magazine genre, messy bed head hair, bold blood-stained red lipstick, and edgy , on trend flesh bearing clothing, this coupled with high fashion bold body language and poses when posing for the photo shoot, for example the cover in with the artist will be biting a bunch of peals with a playful of aggressive facial express symbolises that magazines combination of a rebellious, challenging concept interfusing with glamour and class, all of which aids in representing the fresh innovative and unique hybrid of genre and life style demography STROBE express's. 

Overall magazine concept

The overall concept that we will be conveyed through out my groups 3 issues will be the fusion between music and fashion and how they work in mirroring the ideologies we will try and convey to appeal to are target audience. We have chosen the name STROBE as it interlinks both music and fashion, connoting with the strobe lights and trance beats of the funky house genre, and also the strobe lighting used in fashion shoots and on the catwalk.

For my magazine issue I will be predominantly focusing on the concept of  a hybrid of a rock/indie concepts inspired by the likes of Pixie Lott and Kesha, and glamorous and aspirational aspects inspired by role models such as Cheryl Cole. This spring issue will include articles on the upcoming club, festival and social music scene along with new artists embodying the fusion between music and fashion and not only the impact they have of the artist, but the genre as a whole. 

Questionairs for name of my music magazine

I have had variety of ideas for the name of my cover, I believe this is incredibility important as it signifies to the audience immediately what ideologies the magazine represents and produces connotations on what this magazine emulates about music, fashion and society's expectations. In order to decide I have produced a questionnaire of the different names, and what they represent to find out the most popular and well responded to.

Fashion magazine analysis

Due to the concept of my music magazine emulating a synergy with fashion in order to create a unique product that would fit in a gap in the currant market and appeal to a wider audience of fashion and music lovers alike. I believe this fusion will ascetically look appeal as the combination of music magazine conventions, and fashion style will visually look appealing and innovative. In order to achieve this I have analysis conventions of a stereotypical fashion magazine popular in the industry today so I can incorporate them to a professional level.

Although the conventions are quite similar to a music magazine, for example the central image of the star/artist being the predominate focus, the masterhead on a fashion magazine is much more dominate, filling the whole top section. This may symbolise the powerfull impact that fashion has, and intern that the magazine has. Additionly the colour scheme is much more neatual and syncronus with the styling of the artist, adding to the visual appeal of the cover. Further more the simplistity of the cover adds to the class and sophistcation that my target of pleasure seeking, aspirational and materilistic audiences will resond to well, and this is a style I will deffinatly draw ispiration from when creating my own cover.

Target Audience

The overall concept and connotations with my magazine will predominately appeal to a female gender specific  audience due to the aspiration and idealistic ideologies the artist featured in the magazine , who will majority be successful woman, will convey.For example by using inspirational female artists that relate to the likes of Cheryl Cole and Pixie Lott,  the readers of our magazine will be able to have insight into such celebrities highly sort after lifestyle, and be able to embody thier intermixture of fashion and music.

Due to the glamours association with the funky house genre my magazine centres around, the life style demographic we will be focusing on portraying will be materialistic; aspirational for success, wealth and seeking pleasure and escapism, which could be through the trance like beats and optimistic lyrics found in funky house music. This concept echoes the hedonistic connotations clubs and festivals have, and ties back into the cultural origins funky house has in disco,famously know for its middle and upper class glamorous relations.

In addition to the luxurious and appealing aphorism our magainise will have, it will also partially connote will a rebelious and anit-authority life style due to the associations clubs and festivals also have with drugs and alcohol. However will not convey the heavy pessimistic and extremely rebellious of society or authority, views that rock genre magazine such as NME have. This hybrid of lifestyle demographics may imply a somewhat post-modernist outlook as its embodies a combination of perspectives from more than one angle, which is beneficial in the magazine industry as it will widen our target audience, and intern the popularity and success of our magazine.

My music magazines genre

The genre we have based my music magazine on is 'funky house' and sub genre of house and funk culturally originated from disco in the late 80 in the us. This commercially orientated genre is becoming increasingly popular, with funky house record labels such a Hed kandiand Ministry of sound successfully advancing at a rapid rate and featuring as the the central focus of night clubs and festivals. As the genre appears regularly at the of top album and single charts globally, we have analyzed that this growing music trend is a gap in themagazine market.We wish to create a product that highly incorporates this genre and its prestigious artists, portraying a fresh,young and fun outlook on this new generation of music. Due to its ideology of optimisum and living live to its fullest, and connotationsof glamour, success and positivity our magazines will target audiencewill be of middle class origins, with a mixed demographic of gender and age, however will predominately be between the ages of 15-25, which would appear as a nesh product in the market as the currently it is dominated by rock and grunge genres targeted at an older generation. As a resul of this this unique factor i believe my magazine will break the conventions of currant magazines and portray a fresh and original outlook on music.

Why I have chosen the print brief - music magazine

By assessing my preliminary task of creating a front cover of a school magazine and evaluating my ability to create a visually professional product with interesting and relevant articles to appeal to the chosen target audience, we have made the decision to create a music magazine for a our coursework piece. This is due to my creativity when not only deciding on the layout and text featured but also the ability to echo the ideology of the magazine into the styling, body language and facial expressions of the featured artist on the magazine and combining it with the overall colour scheme to appeal to our target audience. Benefits of this will be producing over all a realistic and authentic looking product that appeals to not only the target audience of my magazine but that of the genre of music we have chosen.

Mood board for concept of my music magazine

Research into magazine publishers

Before creating a moodboad of initial ideas from my music magazine I have looked into publishers and what competitors already in the industry in order to establish I gap in the market for new genre and style of magazine that would target an audience that may not predominately be catered for already.


The most established and prestigious two publishes were IPC who publishes NME, that's emulated a more rock, grungy anti establishment ideologies targeting a rebellious audience that challenged and went against conventional style and image. Bauer media, also a ground breaking publishers who main star in the market is Q, a more glamours, high end magazine with an empathises of style and comeporary music, wit also a politically provative outlook. 


I believe for my magazine Bauer will be more suited due to its target audience of a more economically stable, mainstream, image driven lifestyle demographic, and due to this they would aid in creating a synergy between contemporary music and fashion, which is the route i wish to go down as its currently not a concept exploded in the industry.

Codes and Conventions - Music Magazines

This research will enable me to create an authentic music magazine that conforms to stereotypical expectations of music magazines and additionally allows me to find innovative way in which to contrast this to make my magazine more unique, and target a broader audience.

Further music magazine analysis

The overall image of the Christmas issue of NME featuring the notorious celebrity manager Simon cowell conveys the diverse range of people that have influence on the music industry. Here NME conveys that music has changed though out out the 21st century, and where previously it would conventually be an artist them self's featuring on the cover, now as the music industry and the media evolves, so do the aspects impacting the it, such as managers or TV stars. This modern and innovative ideology, represented in the unconventional cover echoes NME's alternative, modern and forward thinking style.

The Christmas issue layout, with a snow covered title, Christmas decorations with a edgy twist and the piercing red white and black colour scheme all echos Simon Cowells sharp, witty and brutally critical character and mirrors his strong impact on the music industry. His devilish and cheeky facial express represents his personality, coinciding with the article title 'The Grinch speaks' which juxtaposes the Christmas theme also illustrates the unconventional alternative and individual concept. The tag line ' NME  goes head to head with Simon Cowell ' emulates that he may be see a enemy of alternative music as he is famously for manufactured, overly commercialised pop music, so intern by putting him on the cover it again echoes the controversial and confrontational ideologies of NME magazine.

Magazine Analysis - NME

The overall image of this cover is created primarily by the confrontational manor and attitude conveyed though female artist Lilly Allen's body language. The garish colour scheme emulates the styling of the artist, and edgy text resembling the style of newspaper clippings represent her constant appearance in the tabloids, and the connotations of female power, liberation, freedom of speech and concuring success in the music industry conveyed though the title 'taking on the world' which overall creates a rebellious,non conformist and anti authority image, which would appeal to the typical target audience of NME, an anarchistic modern and unconventional music lover, but as its predominately directed at a male audience the use of a young and inspirational iconic female artist breaks the boundaries of music, and would appeal to a wider demographic, of both male and female.

The use of quotations on the cover conventionally appeals to the celebrity culture of the 21st centre who desire deeper access into the lives and minds of music artists today.

This double page spread layout is extremely conventional of a magazine, with the right side of the page taken up predominately with the image of artistic, done for visual affect as when flicking though a magazine the eye rest majority on the right side. the feature headline echoes the style of the front cover, this bold and eccentric text juxtaposes the white background and re forces Lilly Allen's loud and confrontational manner, this image also helps to appeal to the demographic of the target audience who emulate these nonconformist ideologies. Lilly Allen's styling matches the aesthetic of the article, and her masculine lumberjack shirt conveys that she does not what to appeal sexualized in the media, unconventionally portraying her as anti patriarchal, appealing to women who may not stereotypically read NME. Her strong body language and facial expressions in which she is directly looking at the reader which piecing direct eye contact conveys she is demanding attention from the reader. Additionally The headline 'people think I'm an attention seeker but I'm just honest' portrays her rebellious nature and upfront and honest personality, which appeals again to her anti conformists audience.

Introduction to creating a Music Magazine

In this blog I will be exploring the codes and conventions of music magazines in the industry today. By researching what emulates a magazine genre and ideologies I will be able to create proficiently a authentic and original magazine that fills a gap in the currant market and targets its audience professionally.