Are Magazines Doomed?

DOOM?!

With the world constantly changing and developing, it is inevitable that we have to change with it. The ever increasing demand for faster internet or better technology has people split on the survival of the glossy and informative publications that are magazines.

 

Is it the end?

As consumers, we all strive for the best deal we can find. This has inevitably led to the question: why pay for something when we could get it for free? Before the invention of the internet and its allowance of mass information at our fingertips, if people wanted to get information on the latest music buzz, they had to buy a magazine. Physically go to a shop and spend money for information? How horrible.

 

It is universally known that we like to know things and access information when and wherever we want, and sadly the good old glossy publications just doesn't fit in anymore - we are world where no one has any time to spend on magazines, and multi - tasking is our way now. Why bother with any other media than a phone or computer because, well, don't they have all the answers? And better yet, its all in one place - how convenient.

 

Furthermore, how can magazines possibly keep up? The idea of FOMO (fear of missing out) is becoming ever apparent and people want to be up to date with everything - even the small stuff. This links to the point of no time and how we want things easier and faster, something that magazines are no longer good at. This is because magazines are costly to print and require lots of man hours to make. Granted, so do the latest technological devices, but magazines need high sales to survive and therefore need to advertise lots to make sure this happens - word of mouth isn't as reliable for them. Consequently, this all implies that magazines are in fact dying a sad and painful death.

 

Wait! Is there still hope?

Over the years, new technology has been expected to out live many other medias, and is predicted to out live us. Yet, they are still surviving. Before the questioning of the survival of magazines, people had questioned the survival of radios. Who would still listen to the radio when they have a TV? The answer - everyone. Even today, when TVs are getting slimmer, bigger, better pictures, people are still religiously tuning into stations like Radio 1 to learn the new hits of the week.

 

Furthermore, deny all you want, most people are materialistic, meaning that owning psychical copies of things brings more pleasure than a download on a mobile phone. This cannot be said for everyone, as lots of people are fans of things so they prefer to have the real thing. This explains why CDs are not dead and that now, people are starting to listen to vinyl, even though that was thought to be replaced by CDs. Also, it is said that most profits made in lots of industries still come from print and that there is still, and always will be money to be made from magazines.

 

In conclusion, this highlights how although this world is fast moving with little slowing down, people still value print. Granted, this cannot be said for everyone, and that magazines are probably now seen more as a luxury than a necessity (a necessity now being a mobile phone because we simple must communicated by texting now and is the only way to stay in contact). Therefore, as long as people still support and are fans of magazines, then they are seemingly sure to survive - their end is not near.

Minimalism

Why do I like minimalism?

Minimalism, to me, is perhaps more interesting than something being detailed and busy. Something that is clean and uncluttered is far more appealing to look at father than an explosion of colours that came sometimes be quite offensive to look at. Below are photographs that photographer Hengki Koentjoro has taken using the theme of minimalism. 

I personally think that these images are a work of art and are extremely captivating. Whilst I don't want my magazine to turn into a work of art, I would like it to be as nice to look at as a piece of art. I also believe that something that is simplistic an evoke emotion and is easier to convey emotion - and as music is all about emotion then I think that it is a good theme or idea to place my magazine around. 

Lastly, I think that minimalism will appeal to my target audience. It will conflict with the busy, colourful daily life that is experience in westernised culture and creates a place for the audience to escape to - the aim of music. 

Mock Covers

Mock Ups

Before creating my final cover, I have made various different mock ups. I did this in order to help me determine the look and style of my music magazine - when creating my final one I will use pieces that I like from all my mocks to create something that I will like and that will look good to my target audience. 

This was the first cover I made. I have mixed feelings on this - there are features about it that I like and others that I'm not so keen on. Firstly, I like the simplicity of it - that the colour scheme is quite basic and minimal, however the problem with this is that there is nothing that particularly stands out. This in turn makes it less aesthetically pleasing because it is so bland and boring. I like the image and the positioning, but I don't think it works as well as front cover - this means I might use it as part of my contents because I still want the image to be included in some part of my magazine, but the cover is not necessarily the best place for it to be. Furthermore, I like the fonts used because it is clear - so I will take this and use it for my final cover because I think less fonts is better as it doesn't detract from the main image.

I like most of this cover, but I think there is too much colour. The cover is really bright, this isn't what I was going for - so I will probably not use this image for my cover, although I think it is a good photo of Yasmine. The only text that really stands out is the name in pink, the rest of the text is obscured as the black doesn't stand out and he masthead blends into the hair. Consequently, I will strive to make sure that they stand out, the masthead especially - this is because it is what the magazine will be identified by. I'm also not too keen on the shadow because it makes the cover darker - which is not something that I was going for. With this mock I put the barcode and information in the left hand corner - I think I will end up using this on my final piece because I like it smaller because it is essentially more insignificant that the rest of the features on the cover. 

This is perhaps my most favourite mock up that I have made. Firstly, this is probably due to the fact that this is my favourite image that I have taken, although I am not so sure that it works as well as a cover. I like the large, bold masthead that cover the length of the top of the magazine - this is because I think it looks better than something small considering the image is a close up. I really like the font that I have used for the main 'artist' because it stands out and highlights what the magazine will be about - so depending on what image I end up using I'm going to make sure that I replicate this feature. I think the coverlines on the left hand side look a little basic - so I probably wont be using this font for my final cover. I have used the same barcode and price/issue informations as the previous mock up because it is something that I will be using so I have applied it to this one to see what it looks like. Lastly, I situated the sell line in the pug of the magazine and believe that it works well because the eye is drawn to it once it reads the masthead. 

This mock is my least favourite for a number of reasons. To start with I don't like the main image - I think that it doesn't look like it belongs on a magazine and looks really 'student made'.Also, I am not a fan of the shadow that I have created because, again, I don't think that it looks very professional. Furthermore, I believe that the combination of the listed coverlines and the basic sans serif font makes it also look bad. This is because they don't fill the page properly and go too close to the image that it obviously lloks like I was trying not to make it touch the person. Also, the colours don not work well together - the yellow looks bad against the grey and navy/black are not colours that compliment each other. I do however, like the way the sell line is placed under the masthead - something that if I have a short magazine name I will used. I think the biggest problem is that it i all too plain - there is nothing going on in the background so it looks less like a magazine and more like a badly made poster.

This is my final mock that I made when I created all the previous ones. I went back to using an image of Yasmine because I think that the ones I have of her are the most magazine cover like. The first problem I ran into however was where to put the coverlines. This is due to the fact that only one halve of the magazine cover is filled up with the image - leaving the rest of it a little bare. Here, I had the same problem as the previous one - the background is much too plain. I like the colour scheme, as I tried hard to match the artist name to the colour of the lipstick - something that I will try to do if I end up using a photo that I have taken of Yasmine. Furthermore, I think that the side of her face is a little dark - so this then effects how professional it looks because if it were done properly then there would have been no end of lights to make sure her face was properly illuminated. Lastly, the placement of the cover underneath the masthead just looks like it has been pasted on there - which it has - but the idea is to make it look as good as possible. Therefore, when I create my music magazine cover  I don't want the coverlines to look like an inconvenience - I want it too look like they are meant to be there, that they enhance the cover, not make it look worse. 

First Cover Mock Up

Work in Progress

Before making my final magazine cover, I have made a mock up of what look I want the magazine to have.

Firstly, I took pictures of my chosen 'model' - Yasmine - in various positions and shots, and ended up choosing the one to the right. The reason for having a younger model was because my target audience is a younger demographic that will be largely westernised - music magazines are a luxury for them. The inspiration for having the hands near the face was from the magazine Q, where on an issue with Florence Welch, she has her hands on her face - something I liked. The idea is to have a coverline that relates to this, perhaps her vulnerability or opinion of the spotlight. In regards to her face - I have used make up to enhance her eyelashes, eyeshadow on her eyelids and added some lipstick, which is less visible in this picture. Also, the beading above her eyebrows are stick on face art, which I thought would work well considering it is an indie rock magazine, so the style is quite unique.

The original image had a few blemishes in terms of under her eyes and the shining around nose, forehead and on the fingers, therefore I felt it needed 'touching up'. Consequently, I decided to use the photo editing tool Pixlr in order to make the image how I wanted it. I started by using a heal tool and smoothed some her skin where she had a few spots. Then I used a highlighting tool to brighten the shades under her eyes and then airbrushed it so it blended in with the rest of her face. Lastly, I removed the shine from her forehead, nose and her fingers so it looked more aesthetically pleasing to the audience. After editing, I was happy with the finished image and decided to move on to putting the text over it and experiment with different ideas to establish the overall look/feel of my magazine. 

I began with placing the masthead - UNDISCOVERED - I am still unsure if this is what I want to name it, as I think its quite a long name. However, the sell line 'Discover Great Music' goes better with it because it almost explains the meaning of the name. I think that I have placed the text too high, however I didn't want it to be covering too much of the image, so I am still not sure if I will end up using this image as my final piece. I then placed a few made up coverlines around the image in various fonts, but careful not to make it to busy - I believe having the name in a handwriting font makes it stand out more and indicates what the main focus of the magazine is. I tired to have a little text as I could because I am going for the simplistic look, something that the results of my survey agree that I should do too. The colour scheme of the text is white - this is because it has to be seen against the dark background, so I have limited choice. Although, for my final piece I would ideally like it to have a colour scheme of black or white, with little bursts of colour. This is what I have tried to do here with the pink text, and the idea was to have it match up with the pink of the lipstick. I have placed the barcode and the issue/price in the left hand corner, making it small, because I don't think it is something that needs a large focus. I took the idea from the fashion magazine VOGUE, because it has the price really small - but I think this is because it is so expensive. 

To conclude, I am relatively happy with how my mock up turned out. This is because I think it shows what I want the overall look of the magazine to be - simple and unique. However, I have still not made any final decisions on the name of the magazine, or what image I will choose - my aim of making this mock was to practice and experiment, something I think I have done well. 

Bad Examples

Worst Magazine Covers

Sometimes magazines can get their covers incredibly wrong - whether it be bad airbrushing or just silly placing of coverlines. I have picked some of the worst magazine covers I could find and evaluated to help me make sure my cover doesn't turn out like them.

Town & Country

The Town & Country magazine cover is bad for a number of reasons. Firstly, the image of Roger Federer does not match up to the background - it looks almost as if he has been pasted onto it. The colour scheme doesn't compliment each other well either - the yellow doesn't suit the red of the masthead which was used to compliment the colour of his jumper. Also, his position isn't natural - it looks like he doesn't want to be there. This then gives the cover a fake quality, like everything is too perfect. Therefore, for my magazine I will aim to edit it so it doesn't look like I have clearly removed my model form the original background. 

Sunday

What immediately stand out about this magazine cover is the bad image. Kirsten Stewart looks like she has just slumped onto the photo shoot - so the problem with this images is that unlike the magazine before, it is not too natural to the point where she looks like she is trying to hard. Furthermore, it also looks like not much time has been taken to make her look good - he outfit is quite basic and she almost blends into the background with her pale dress and skin. Also, the coverlines look as if the designer just decided to list them instead of trying to make them look better by placing them around the image. Lastly, I personally don't like the shadow of the image - so this is something that I would like to avoid having for my magazine cover. 

Todateen (star)

Like Sunday, the most strikingly obvious mistake with this cover is the image. Either Justin Bieber has as much make up on his face as possible or it has been edited to the point of looking completely unnatural - he looks like a wax doll. This instantly portrays not only the magazine in a bag light because of its amateur editing skills, but also him as an artist because how can anyone look at him and take his music seriously when he gets made up like that? Also, the colour scheme and coverlines just scream pop - which in a way follows its conventions, but the placement of them is shocking. Consequently, for my magazine I will strive for my model to real and for the coverlines to look like the belong there. 

How does this help me?

As I've mention above, by evaluating these magazine covers I know what not to do. What I have learnt is to not airbrush it to perfection - something that I wasn't ever going to do because indie rock music tend to be more raw than polished like pop is. Also, I'm going to try to make sure that the colour scheme works with the image and the coverline compliment it.

Mood board

Mood board

noun

plural noun: mood boards

An arrangement of images, materials, pieces of text, etc. intended to evoke or project a particular style or concept

As part of planning the look and contents for my magazine, I have made a mood board to show what I would like to have. I have included aspects like what artists will feature, certain magazine covers that inspire my look and I have based my ideas around (INDIE magazine). I have also included colour palettes, which follow the same style as what bands/contents ideas/cover ideas, and different types of shots to use for my cover and double page spread. Furthermore, I added different types of fonts that will help me decide what the house-style of my magazine will be. 

Analysing Names

Potential Magazine Names

I have analysed and explained the meanings behind the names I have as options for my magazine. With each one I have stated my thoughts as to why it would be a good name for a music magazine. Also, the names are in different fonts because I am still trying to decide which would be best for my masthead on the cover. Hopefully this will help me decide which name to use for my magazine because I am currently unsure.