Research and Planning - Masthead fonts

I have decided that my rock magazine title will be 'Bohemian' - inspiration drawn from the scavengers of rock music from the rock musical We Will Rock You. However, I have not decided which font I want my title to be in. Above are a few of the fonts I found appropriate for the masthead of a rock magazine. I will decide upon my final masthead next lesson.

Research and Planning - Masthead ideas

Ideas for the masthead of my rock music magazine:

-Rock Central
-Champions
-Champions of Rock
-COR (Champions of Rock)
-Amplified
-Volume
-Electric
-Bohemian
-Rockin'
-Loud
-RFE (Rock.For.Ever)
-Age of Rock

I feel the best and most catchy masthead name for my rock music genre magazine is 'Bohemian' as it sums up the style of people who will read the magazine as well as the genre of the magazine in one word. The inspiration behind Bohemian came from the group of collective rock freedom fighters in the hit rock theatrical phenomenon 'We Will Rock You'. Seeing as my rejected original magazine idea was to create a musical theatre genre music magazine based around the theme of 'We Will Rock You' the musical (along with other new musicals), I thought I'd at least get something from We Will Rock You into my rock music genre magazine!

Research and Planning -music magazine analysis 2

This is my second rock music magazine analysis and I'm starting to spot similarities between the rock music magazines I have been looking at and analysing. I have noticed that black, red and white appear to be commonly used colours on rock magazine covers. In the previous analysis I noted the reasons I believed red, black and white were used on rock magazine covers and why they were so effective on that particular magazine and those reasons and the effectiveness also apply to this magazine cover which shares the same colour scheme with the addition of the colour gold. The gold is a nice touch to this magazine as it makes the band who are being advertised seem important and valuable, like the metal gold its self, which could catch the reader's eye and influence them to buy the magazine.

On this particular magazine I can straight away tell it is a rock magazine by the image used and the title of the band in large gold letters, as Queen are legends of rock and would be typically featured in a rock genre magazine. Unlike other magazines I have viewed, this 'Q' magazine's masthead is not the biggest font on the page, which is unusual, but as equally effective as having the masthead the largest font on the page, as the band name commands attention and catches the reader's eye; the promotion of that particular band could lead to the magazine being a successful seller.

I believe the target audience for this magazine is any rock fan, as the colour scheme is not gender specific and the image/band being advertised appeal to both male and female rock fans of any age, for example: My Dad is in his 50s and loves Queen and I am in my teens and also love Queen, showing this magazine appeals to both genders and all ages.

I really like the simplicity of this magazine, as it is not over crowded with articles or colourful images, it is simple, spacious, well organized and for those reasons it really stands out and becomes appealing to the target audience, or anyone in general.

This magazine has definitely made me realise that less is sometimes more and that a simplistic design is more eye catching and appealing than a busy one. It has also confirmed by belief that red, white and black colours are perfect for a rock music magazine and those are the colours I am going to use on my own rock magazine.

Research and Planning - Music magazine analysis

This is a really good example of a rock magazine cover, as it stands out, is eye catching and is easy to tell what genre of music this magazine contains. I can easily tell this is a rock music magazine because of the masthead, the image and the text used on the cover. The masthead says "Classic Rock" which straight away indicates that the magazine is about rock music and it is in a large white font which is a contrast to the black background, which makes it stand out and easy to read. The image used on the cover also indicates that the magazine is based on rock music, as the man in the image has a wild style of hair, which is a typical style for rock artists; he is wearing black clothing, another thing which is common for rock artists; and he isn't smiling, showing he is not 'soft' or 'happy' (things which are not common for rock artists to do) which reflects the seriousness and hard edge of rock music and the message it portrays. The image is also in shadow, which shows the artist to be slightly mysterious and most rock artists have a slight mysteriousness and darkness surrounding them (for example: Ozzy Ozbourne biting the head off a bat, or Alice Cooper ringing the neck of a chicken and drinking it's blood; its dark and mysterious stuff and they are both rock artists).

I can also tell it is a rock magazine because of the text on the cover that says 'Led Zeppelin' which is a well known classic rock band for the 70s - showing its a rock magazine. This magazine also uses the 3 colour rule, using black, white and red which are common colours associated with rock for various reasons, such as: Black is for the darkness and mystery surrounding rock stars; red which is the colour of hell and most rock artists sing about the devil and hell and religious people used to call rock music "the devil's music" associating them with red; and white which is the contrast to black and the use of both colours is common in rock artists to make them stand out, but also have a simplicity about them, as rock artists generally don't believe in wearing colourful designer branded clothing as they want to be individual and different. The three colours work very well together and definitely show the cover is for a rock genre magazine.

The target audience for this magazine is literally anyone who likes rock music. The colours used are not gender specific and therefore do not appeal to one gender more than the other, which means their audience is open to both genders. I dont believe the magazine is aimed at a specific age, because although the band being advertised are an old band, most young rock fans know about them too.


I really like this magazine, especially the colour scheme and how the image has been edited to make it suit the magazine more. This magazine has definitely influenced me to use a similar and just as effective colour scheme in my own rock music magazine.

Research and Planning - Music Poll Results

At the beginning of the course I created a poll on my Blogger to see what the most popular genre of music amongst my friends and class mates was. At this point in time Rock is the runaway winner with 8 votes, with Pop coming second with 1 vote. As rock was the genre of music I was intending to base my music magazine on anyway, my poll has confirmed that I am going to create a rock magazine! I also now know that I have 8 people whose opinions and views will be key to creating the best rock magazine I can and I will interview them to gain this helpful knowledge.

Research and Planning - Music Magazine Genre

Music magazine genre

My chosen genre for my music magazine is rock.

I have chosen rock music as it is one of my favourite genres of music and one I know a lot about, which will enable me to create a good music magazine. My friends all love the rock genre of music, which means I will be able to use them as my models and interviewees in my magazine, as they look suited to the rock genre and have a good insight into the rock genre.

Originally I wanted to create a musical theatre genre music magazine, but I was told I wasn't allowed by the moderator and so I put my enthusiasm and passion for the musical We Will Rock You (which would have been the main focus of my musical theatre magazine) into a rock genre magazine, as Queen (whose music is used throughout We Will Rock You) are rock legends!

Inspirational magazines for the genre of rock:

-Q
-Kerrang
-Classic Rock
-Rolling Stone
-NME

Inspirational bands/artists for the genre of rock:

-Queen
-AC/DC
-Linkin Park
-My Chemical Romance
-Muse
-Black Sabbath
-Good Charlotte
-Status Quo

I plan on mixing together classic rock, such as Queen, with new rock, such as My Chemical Romance.

Inspirational colours for rock magazine:

- Black
- Red
- Gold
- White

Deep, dark, contrasting colours to convey the genre of rock.

All these inspirations will be used to help shape my own rock music magazine.

Research and Planning - Original Music Magazine Idea

My original music magazine idea was to create a musical theatre genre music magazine - as musical theatre is now a recognised genre of music. I had this idea as I am very passionate about musical theatre and love the storytelling style of musical theatre music. However, upon my media teacher contacting the moderator, I was told I could not do a musical theatre music genre magazine, which was a little frustrating as I already had a masthead name, an idea of what stories and articles to include and I have many friends currently in West End shows which I could go down to London and photograph backstage in costume for my magazine - which would have been EPIC! But respecting the moderator's decision I moved on to change my genre to rock, another favourite genre of music. I plan on still incorporating one of my favourite musicals (We Will Rock You) into my rock genre magazine, as the music of Queen is relevant to the rock genre. Although I was a little disappointed at not being able to do a musical theatre genre music magazine which I was so enthusiastic about, I am looking forward to changing my ideas and embracing the rock genre for my magazine.