Colour Theme.

My magazine includes articles/pictures about metal. The genre of the magazine is metal and hardcore therefore i do want to keep the colours quite dark. It wouldn't be very fitting if i chose pinks and purples. Thinking about it, i'd like to use lots of black and whites with yellow being the continuous theme through the magazine. It makes a difference than using red like NME or Q. Yellow, White and Black compliment eachother well, this means they will be the three prominent colours featured on the cover, the three page spread and the contents page. I tried to keep the colours to a minimum to make it simple and easy to read, not so colourful. I could feature grey too if i needed an extra colour.

Uses and Gratifications Theory

The uses and gratifications theory is a frequently used approach to understanding mass communication. The theory places more focus on the consumer, or audience, instead of the actual message itself by asking “what people do with media” rather than “what media does to people”. It assumes members of the audience take an active role in featuring media into their own lives. The theory also holds the audience responsible for choosing the media that meets their own needs. For example, if someone was interested in metal/rock, they wouldn't buy a magazine geared for people who are interested in rap/r'n'b. They know what magazine to buy by looking at the cover, the images, font, colour scheme allows them to know what the magazine is about.

Audience demographics.

Before any music magazine starts, they have to analyze the target audience. These are called the audience demographics which are age, gender, employment, hobbies, income and anything else that is relevant. The better a magazine understands the audience, the better they do and the more they capture the right audiences attention. To have a successful music magazine, one must know who the audience are. The content must excite and generate interest from the public. When creating my media project, i am going to include questionnaires and polls to find out what my audience are interested in and get to know them a little bit more.

Hierarchy of Needs

Psychologist Abraham Maslow first introduced his concept of a hierarchy of needs in 1943. This hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to other needs.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is most often displayed as a pyramid. The lowest levels of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the more complex needs are located at the top of the pyramid. Needs at the bottom of the pyramid are basic physical requirements including the need for food, water, sleep and warmth. Once these lower-level needs have been met, people can move on to the next level of needs, which are for safety and security.

As people progress up the pyramid, needs become increasingly psychological and social. Soon, the need for love, friendship and intimacy become important. Further up the pyramid, the need for personal esteem and feelings of accomplishment take priority. Maslow emphasized the importance of self-actualization, which is a process of growing and developing as a person to achieve individual potential.

My Target Audience

This is my friend Jason Hatrell, he is 18 years and 5 months years old and lives in the suburbs of London in a place called Waltham Abbey. He dresses in internet bought clothes, usually band t-shirts or of a scene he supports. He has tattoos all over his arms and chest and an unusual piercing in his nose. He enjoys playing music in his band (who play hardcore and metal music), he loves eating at Nandos, playing xbox, sleeping out and drinking until he passes out. Quite the rock and roll lifestyle... Jason also likes to shop at Topman and places with in fashion clothes. He enjoys comedies like Anchorman, Superbad, The Hangover, 40 Year Old Virgin. Mainly american comedies and also Jason enjoys horror flicks such as the 5 Saw films, The texas chainsaw massacre remake among others. He doesn't buy the DVDs, he downloads them illegally and watches them with his friends after gigs very early in the morning. He'd watch TV programmes like 24, CSI, Spongebob Squarepants, Channel 4 programmes and lots others. He listens to pop-punk, metal and hardcore. His favourite bands being a day to remember, architects, deez nuts, eyes of a traitor, trc and lots and lots of local bands who his friends are in. He's interested in rap sometimes and loves eminem. In his car, he'd listen to xfm, however he'd normally plug his ipod in as he hates mainstream music.

target audience pictures

Possible names for my magazine

Metalread: Very obvious title, tells you the genre the magazine will be about and obviously it has parts to read. It's quite a boring title and could be quite long to fit onto the cover of the magazine. It doesn't sound like something that you would hear people talking about

Metalnews: Another title with the world 'Metal' in to tell the reader of the prominent genre in the magazine. 'News' is quite a boring word and would not attract the kind of audience i'd like to attract. Another fairly long title to fit onto a cover. Could look better and more interesting in capital letters?

Thrasha: Not sure what this title means, it makes the reader unsure of what the magazine is about but it's a totally obscure word just like 'Kerrang'. Thrashaa sounds like the metal band Thrasher so you might have a vague idea. I think the added exclamation mark makes it more interesting.

Chanda: Similar to the 'Thrasha' concept, completely made up word and does not make the reader aware of the genres. However, on the cover i would have lots of pictures and colour.

X: this is my favourite magazine title so far, it's simple, yet very striking. I'd have it in a very bold font and make it the main feature of the front cover. It's easy for the reader to read and they can remember it. Sick times.

This is a center page spread from kerrang magazine. The main colours are red, white and black which gives a very edgy feel. The main image on the left ropes readers in as they want to know who this icon is and which band it is. The sepia theme of the photos gives an old kind of feel but it also let's the title stand out as much as it can. The title is in big bold font, using red and white as the two main colours. It's a quote from the lead singer of My Chemical Romance. Featuring a sub-title underneath 'inviting' us (the readers) to their recording studio. It's personal. On the right, there is a vertical banner of 'New MCR tracks' which you can read if you are interested in buying the albums and the meaning behind the songs. That's a section for true fans of the band. There are also more pictures along the bottom of the page, this is a very visual article.

This is a double page spread in NME magazine, the main colours are still red, black and white. The title gives an edgy 'all over the place' feel, it looks like cut up newspaper letters. It takes up more than a half of the double page spread and is a quote from Lily Allen (who the article is on). This shows it is the most important element on the two pages, it will attract readers to read on. The image on the right is also very striking, Lily's wearing a red plaid shirt which goes with the whole overall theme of the magazine. The background is kept very clean, all white so that everything stands out. The story is in small black font in the bottom left, it looks like not a lot of writing but easy reading for music fans.

This is a double page spread from Q magazine. The main colours are still the red, black and white and the photo even collides with this theme. The most noticeable thing about this article is the large images that take up most of the double page spread. This will attract readers, irrelevant whether they are fans of the band or not. The title of the band, 'Biffy Clyro' is in white capital letters on a red background to make it stand out with a subheading of 'take on the planet' showing they are obviously a big or upcoming band.

The image speaks words.

I am analysing the contents page of 'Q'. A very simple layout is used featuring red, black and white as the main colours. This gives it a 'clean' feel, it's also very easy to navigate round. This contents page follows the theme of the front cover, featuring the same colours and the logo in the top left hand corner. The date is shown in the top right hand corner. Down the left hand side the column has been split into two different sections; ‘features’ and ‘every month’. In the ‘features’ section is a special part dedicated to this magazine being an oasis special. This, unlike the rest of the page, is written in gold to show it's special. The rest of the articles on the left hand side are written in black font with the page number in red as so you know what page to turn to which is important. The main picture is of the Courteeners and it reflects the style of the music featured in the magazine. The clothes they are wearing and the hairstyles they are sporting shows us they're a brit rock indie band. At the bottom of the page, is a part which shows the readers the reviews featured in this issue. If someone went to a gig, they could see it reviewed and how the editors of the magazine thought it went. There is also a tag line that refers to Q as ‘The world’s biggest and best music magazine’ which is their almost 'catch phrase' for the whole magazine.

This is the 'NME' contents page. The main colours used are black, white, yellow and red. At the top, there is a mast head, allowing us to see what's in the magazine this week. It's bold white writing on a black background except the 'NME' font is in the original red font. The main image is of the main article of the magazine, and has a large title which stands out so the reader can flick directly to it. The photo stands out from the rest of the page as it's pretty much, the only picture on the page. On the right, the subheadings stand out as they are bold white font with black backgrounds. It's very simple to read as it's all in a vertical line downwards. Also, the contents stands out as it's in red. On the left, there's a list of ALL the bands included in bright red font including the page number in a simple black colour. Only the band name is given but that's a good system as you turn to whatever page you like and find your favourite band. Red is used as it symbolises the new 'hot' acts that are in the magazine. At the bottom, there's a subscription part, trying to make the reader subscribe. It draws the reader in as it features lots of bright colours from the image of the magazines and the yellow and white writing on a black background.

This is the kerrang contents page. the main colours used are yellow and black on a white background. It's very visual as there are lots of pictures to catch the readers attention. The main picture features a man included in the main article to grab your attention. Quite a simple layout has been used with a list on the right, listing all the bands that are included in this issue of the magazine. The slightly more important stories have a picture with a page number made clear in yellow block font with a black background. 'Contents' in the top right has been made bold and clear to read. There's a quote underneath about bands from someone from another band. It just 'packs out' the page and adds more interesting elements.