Production Planning

FOCUS GROUP MEETING 1

My target audience is 14-18. I got together a group of 8 girls to share my ideas with them, also show them layout designs and ask a few questions. The name of the girls in my focus group are:

Aimee Lavelle
Katie Ferguson
Taryn Banks
Hannah Crompton
Pippa Cusani
Ella Schickhoff
Ciara Hanley
Jess Hinnigan

Overall...

Overall, the feedback I have gotten is postive and they all like the idea of focusing my magazine on the 'girl next door artist'. Inside they want gossip, fashion tips, interviews and information on the lastest music festivals. Comparing two designs they liked the more modern, simple and smooth syle but, they think I should do one more extra plan with a combination of both and calm down the bright colours as it looks too childish.

EMAILING THE MODELS

Mel williams:

I choose Mel Williams to be my model to be model because I knew she had a great smile which I was looking for. From the start I have said my target audience is for older teen girls (15+) interested in pop music so I wanted some they can relate to and look up to. I knew I wanted a girl artist for the main feature in my magazine, as I was going for the idea of 'the girl next door' and 'new queen of pop'.

Ed Turner

I choose Ed Turner to be featured in my contents page because he looked around the same age range as my target audience. Meaning, readers would be interested in reading about him.

BOOKING THE STUDIO

PLANNING THE PHOTO SHOOT

Equiment List

Panasonic HD digital camera
Panasonic HD video camera
Memory cards
Tripod
Lighting Stands
Smart Phone

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How do female music artists pose for the front cover of pop/chart music magazine?

I found most pictures are a close-up or medium shot, with the female artist either showing happiness or joy in their facial expression (which invites the reader in) or a strong facial expression showing power and success of the music artist. Also, many female artists posed with their hands behind their head or around their face which indiates to the audience, they're down to earth and relaxed. I will try and get a range of different shots, facial expressions and poses then choose which I and my focus group feel is most appropriate for the magazine.

How do male music artists pose for pop/chart music magazines?

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I found there was a lot of different ways male music artists posed for music magazines, I think it depends on the personality and style of music they sing. Therefore, in the photoshoot with Ed I want to portray him as a funny, happy pop singer therefore he will be smirking or laughing.

Locations for Shoot

For the setting of Mel's shoot I have chosen to use the media studio room, as it is a room which is used for casting and photoshoots so it would make the pictures look more professional. Also, by having a white background it will allow me to more easily edit the photos to make them look better. A lot of magazines use rooms like this for photoshoots, thus by using this I can make it appear as professional as the current pop magazines.

PLANNING OF THE PAGES

IDEA 1

Idea 1 has elements has Billboard magazine and Q front cover. I used text to frame the image of the model and emphasis on the text is done underlining. I wanted the masterhead to be the biggest font on the page so that it catches the readers attention. I chose the pink colour scheme as I feel that it fits the target audience (teen girls). The contents page was inspired by Kerrang. The page titles are divided by rectangles and the black circles will have the page numbers in. I linked the contents page to the front cover by using the same colour scheme,font style and having similar design features such as circles and rectangles. I have also done the same with the double page spread. The idea sproused from the double spread of Nicki Minaj. I split the text into article and interview as the results from my questionaire showed they liked reading these the most.

IDEA 2

Idea 2 was mainly my own ideas however VIBE magazine (from my research) inspired me. Especially with the background gradient fade. The pastel blue is much less powerful as the pink but it brings a modern feel to the magazine. I placed text around the edges to frame the image. Arrows are used throughout the pages to link them all together. They are also a way of pointing out key bits of information and directing the reader through the page.

IDEA 3

Idea 3 was inspired by Top of the POPs and We love POP magazines. I feel the circles are fun, modern and girly as well as different to other magazines. The most important feature about this plan is the colours. I decided to go aganist convections and chose contrasting colours (which are not normally used in magazines) to get a unique, original look.

What does my target audience think of the page plans?

I created a group chat on Facebook for my focus group, as it was a fast and easy way to communicate. In the chat, I sent them the 3 ideas for the layout and design of the 3 pages. This what they had to say:

After audience feedback, I have decided to go against normal magazine convections and have a contrasting colour scheme like idea 3 however use a darker blue and orange because the focus group said pink and blues are too maintain, similar to other magazines out there and too childish. Therefore dark navy and orange/peach will give the magazine. I also found out the focus group liked the idea of using circles to display information. Overall idea 1 was most favoured, everyone really liked the layout therefore I will try and stick to that layout design.

CHOSING THE NAME OF THE MAGZINE

Most pop magazine names include the name ‘POP’ in them to make it obvious to the reader what genre of music the magazine is about such as ‘top of the Pops’ or ‘We love pop’. However, there are some magazines, for instance Billboard, Q and NME which do not state the genre of music they feature in their names. I like this idea because for my target audience (14-18 girls) they want to read up-to-the-minute, sophisticated, cool magazines about their preferred genre of music- they do not want to think their reading a magazine aimed at a younger audience which ‘We love Pop’ and ‘Top of the Pops’ imply. Including POP into the name of my magazine automatically will discourage my target audience buying it as for them it is too obvious, they should be able to tell it’s a POP magazine from: the music artists featuring in it; the contents of the magazine (fashion, beauty tips, gossip); and it should follow similar convections of other POP magazines therefore the will recognise it’s genre from the design and layout.

GCTP (GET CONNECTED TO POP) :

suggesting this magazine gives my target audience access into the pop music world, like no other magazine. Using the first letter of each word gives the name that unquie, cool edge.

Unplugged:

suggesting that this is the go-to magazine to get the latest gossip from music artists, fashion tips and up-coming concerts. This magazine ‘unplugs’ the POP music world and reveals to their readers all of its’s secrets, gossip and tips.

Now Music

suggesting that thismagazine is all about current, hot POP music trends. My target audience love being up to date on: the latest news in the pop world, rising pop stars and the newest albums/singles. Therefore the word ‘now’ draws my target audience in because they want the latest on POP.

I turned to Twitter to gain audience feedback as I know my target audience are the biggest users of social media. I created a poll, whereby people could vote for the best name for my music magazine. Here are the results:

Unplugged 64%
GCTP 28%
Now music 8%