Front Cover Target Audience Feedback

Since I completed the front cover for my magazine, I decided to interview a few of those who took part in my survey and those who are apart of the target audience to see what their thoughts were on the magazine.

"Rapper named Content" - The front cover of "Up" Magazine is a very well designed page. The theme of the work is easily seen throughout the cover, from top to the bottom. On each side you see titles and stories that captivate the reader, therefore you want to read more and find out what's going on in the lives of rappers.

"Viewer 2 (Didn't want name mentioned)" - From what I saw before as the draft plan to what I see now, it looks like the plan has worked out very well! I love how you've added a better font for the masthead to make it look more rough and realistic for rap rather than having something smooth and soft which is more related towards pop. Also the effected used on the text such as shades, italics and boldness all work well with the magazine. One thing about the magazine is that you should space out the text a bit more from the length, it's always good to have some negative feedback to fix up from! :)

"Viewer 3 (Didn't want name mentioned)" - Looks nearly as professional as XXL would have their magazines!! I really like the image of the artists as it looks really appealing with the eyes looking right at me. It somehow automatically drags me in and draws my attention. Another good thing is the logo in the background the way it's been placed behind the image of the artist makes it look more original rather than it being in front. The price always looks very consuming for a magazine like that. So a job well done to this!

"James (a friend)" - Dude, how long did this take to make?? It looks so well organised and prepared, I honestly love rap and this looks like the suitable magazine for me and my needs when it comes down to music, I really like the main heading you have of the rappers name and the slogan underneath it, it's really eye-catching also the text used makes it look more underground something i think you were going for with the feedback you got me so it's good to see you used that and keep up the working hoping to see more good things.

Front Cover Linked to Research

When making the front cover, I mainly wanted to resemble my front cover to the XXL magazines especially the one with the artists NAS on it. This was due to the colour and lighting using including mise-en-scene. So what I did was make the font similar however, use a different masthead "UP" with effects to make it look much different and then use the ideas from the XXL magazine and create my own with graphics, colours, text and layers. I also looked at other music magazines such as VIBE and The Source, but the one that appealed to me the most was XXL. This was due to the target audience that I had and also the way it's been laid out so simply and formally rather than being over done with a younger audience.

As you can see, most of my research was based upon that magazine, however the things I changed in the text were, the main heading slogan to make it shorter and catchier towards the target audience also the name of the magazine on top of the masthead "UP" so the audience will know the name of the magazine not just the initial if it ever comes to newcomers.

Front Cover Features

Since the front cover was hardly going to have features such as graphics due to the age group to make it seem less young teenish, I decided to add a few red lines and a plus sign to the magazine as the graphics as I didn't want to over do it due to the age range which was around 16-20. In this image you would see where these graphics have been placed to make it seem reasonable and more formal for the genre hence why I didn't want to add graphics such as stars etc due to that making it more hip hop/pop.

When using the lines in the front cover, I duplicated the layers to keep it a precise length rather than making it odd lengths, after that I managed to line out the text from each side to keep it in shape and together. I also added a price tag and lined out the bar code to the side as planned from the final draft plan as it's located on the bottom right page of the front cover. I used the price "2.99" due to business marketing schemes as it looks more effective and appealing that "3.00" putting thoughts into the consumers mind by making it look cheaper although it's a penny short. Also this price range was selected by the target audience which most would purchase it by.

Masthead and Font Decisions

When it came to choosing a font I had various decisions on which one to choose, however I first made a template of a few example ones then showed them to the target audience to see which one they preferred and these were the ones shown.

However this wasn't enough for text as it wasn't rough and underground enough to make it feel like it was a rap and hip hop magazine so I decided to then go through some more texts until I came to one that actually had more of a cunning edge that satisfied the needs of the target audience to know and feel that it was a rap and hip hop magazine. (This picture of the masthead is taken from the front cover while being made)

After using this font for the magazine I also then added a shadow to make it more effective and stand out more so it looks original. The mastheads plan was originally planned for the artists image to cover up half of the P however, since it would disguised and confuse the audience in not knowing the name of the magazine I decided to bring out the P a bit more so it's more clear to the audience and viewers of this type of genre.

Photograph Manipulation

When I had the image cut out and put onto the front cover, there were a few things I needed to change in the picture to make it look more appealing due to the features and lighting that didn't come out that well as planned. What I decided to do was use the stamp tools to go over some face features and then use the contrast and brightness to create an effect on the image to make it look more lighter and appealing as I received some feedback from some apart of the audience saying out the image looked dull in the beginning, so after playing around with the brightness and contrast I came to this conclusion also after making the face more smoother.

Before:

After: (settling the brightness and contrast of the image)

Cover Layout & Photoshop (the creation begins)

Now that I'm moving on to design the front cover, I started laying out the front cover using an A4 template on Photoshop with custom settings to make the page size resolution a perfect length. I started out by selecting the image I'll be using from the images I took earlier then cropping it out using the tool named "magnetic lasso" shown in this picture.

Moving on from this, I then opened up the front cover page and put up an image of the final flat plan as the background so I can begin to use that as a template to where everything will go then added a few quick random text to see if everything would fit into the image as planned. (Bear in mind the text was quickly used then was improved and edited later on)

This is how it looked with the final flat plan in the background then a few layers added on with the image.

Shots taken including "Mise-en-scene" (Final front cover shots)

Most of the shots used in these pictures have been presented as medium shots as that was chosen to be the final decision by the target audience. For the props I used the silver chain and black hoody as a part of the genre stereotype since it's based around rap and hip hop including a harder look than a softer one to make it look more appealing . I also got the artists to use the angle of gaze in all the pictures so it draws attention straight away to the audience. I put the lighting in various ways to put a shading towards to the white background and lighting on the artists face that way it can make a different affect rather than using a straight forward one.

Test Shots

Here are some test shots I took from different angles for the front cover of the magazine. In these shots I was mainly looking for shots such as; medium close up shots, medium shots, close ups & extreme close ups to see how the concept of the images would affect the magazine using the feedback I received from those who took part in my surveys and also feedback.

Also using mise-en-scene for the test shots I used the same outfit I would be using for the final front cover image which was jewellery and a black hoody to match the colours used in the magazine. As you can see from this the test shots have been proceeded well with shady backgrounds from the lighting which would be used in the final front cover of the magazine.

Draft Flatplan with feed back

The draft plan was used to create a template of how my final front cover, contents and double page spread would be. As you can see the main 3 colours I'll be using are; Red, black and white. This is due to keeping it simple and original. In my survey the image of the artist was the most appealing towards the audience who took the survey, so in order to do this I created a medium close up shot of an artists that would be featured in the magazine. Also I've spread out the sub heading so they would be clear and also have the main heading just beneath the medium close up shot of the artist so it wouldn't interfere or interrupt the image by blending in. The bar code is located at the bottom right side of the magazine the price for the magazine would be at £2.99. The reason why I chose this price was due to the business marketing term of having it 1p less to make it seem like a big difference to the audience rather than putting it at £3.00. The mast head is located at the top left corner of the magazine resembling to the XXL magazine to keep originality and also having the words of the logo "UP" so people know what it stands for.

Draft flat plan Feedback. (This feedback was taken from social networking sites such as Facebook and twitter after showing the draft flat plans to some of the audience. Identities have been hidden for personal reasons)

Viewer 1: I like how the colour has been presented in this front cover. It actually makes it stand out more compared to other magazines as red is a vital colour used by big magazine companies in the industry. Another thing I like about this is the fact that the contents page is laid out simply with an image of two artists being put next to each other as it shows us who would be featured and what will be exclusive content.

Viewer 2: I like the masthead as it reminds me of XXL which the draft plan was originally meant to be resembling and also how the sub headings have been cleared to the side so it doesn't disturb the image of the main artists. The size of the text has been used wisely showing the audience what are the sub headings and which are the main headings. Also the angle of gaze used by the main image of the artist is very appealing and it looks like it's looking right at us to drag us in and consume what is there.

Viewer 3: This draft plan looks like it has been put in with a lot of hard work and dedication. The layout and setting is extremely clear as it's representing the genre rap and hip hop. I think that the artist has been given the right props as it's showing how they are in reality. This gives the image of rappers being tough and aggressive towards things. Also the colour has been very appealing and the price is very suitable for the content it'll be giving.

Shot, Location and Prop List.

Shots:

For the type of shots, I'll be using a few such as; Medium Close Up, Medium Shots and Long shots of the artists that will be featured in the magazine. These type of shots have been drawn onto the draft plan front cover, contents page and double page spread.

Location:

The place we're I'm going to take the pictures will be located around brick wall type of areas which may have graffiti around them to add the affect of the ghetto side due to the genre making it look rough. Some ideas of places can be seen in these pictures.

Prop List:

The props I'll be using will be gangster/bad boy based. This will include jewellery, snap back, hoodies and so on. It will have a full on Rap and Hip Hop theme for the magazine with the artists posing with that type of clothing here are some examples of what they'll be wearing.

Artist Profile

Visual Magazine Profile

Rap & Hip Hop Genre