Draft layout/sketch

This is my chosen draft for my magazine and will provide me as a basis to build and change aspects of my magazine around to suit specific rock/music conventions. In this draft, I have included a Masthead, skyline, puffs cover lines and bar codes that I can use base my actual magazine off of when creating it using Photoshop. Although my artistic skills are not great at all, i was still able to clearly identify the conventions from this draft to include in my main task which helped out a lot during the main task process.


This image also allowed me to see what conventions I could add and what conventions I could get rid of. This allowed my magazine to be very conventional as a had a good guideline as to what to include and what not to include making my front cover appeal to magazine lovers and rock music fans.

Front cover draft layout/sketch

Questionnaire analyse

For my questionnaire, i used a website to create and build my own questionnaire. This website is called Polldaddy which allows you to create your own questionnaires. My questionnaire consisted of eight different questions which provided me with ways i could produce my magazine around the consumers wants and needs.

Down below is the layout of my Rock magazine survey

From the questionnaires I have received back, I have managed to create some sort of idea of what the consumer wants to see.

 question 1)  I found that people expected to see some sort of prop like a guitar as it represents the rock genre.

Question 2) I found that 2 people would want around 3-4 colours on the cover of the magazine whilst one person wanted 1-2 colours on the cover.

Question 3) I found that all three people suggested black,white and grey would suit a rock magazine the best.

Question 4) I found that all three people said a direct image would suit a rock magazine the best

Question 5) I found the all three people would pay £0-£2.99 for a rock magazine

Question 6) I found that 1 person suggested Black and white rock, whilst the other two people
suggested Rock classics for the masthead of the magazine

Question 7) I found that all three people said that they would enjoy reading an interview the most

Question 8) I found out that people said that a rock magazine needs to have a messy look to the cover as its a conventional design of a rock magazine. I also found that people would expect lots of puffs and cover lines around the magazine.

Overall, these questionnaire have given me a foundation to start producing my magazine on as i know what people would expect to see and therefore, i can aim to hit these conventions and these expectations of the viewer to produce the best possible product.

Mood board

What target audience does my publishers aim for? - The publishers I have chosen aim at the rock genre of music and therefore, target fans of rock music. However, they also produce and publish a magazine called the blues, which is not based on the rock genre. However, this may double the target audience as fans of the blues may want to see what other magazines TeamRock publish, this means that i will gain a greater target audience.

What attracts people to the magazine? - The codes and conventions that attract people the most to a magazine is the main image. This is because if its a image of someones favourite music artists or an artist that has a huge fan base, they will be attracted to the magazine and therefore, buy the magazine as a result.

What puts them off the magazine? - The aspect of a magazine that could potentially put the audience off buying it is the colour scheme. This is because, if to many colours are used on the cover, the magazine could end up looking unprofessional and messy.

What would the audience expect to see? The audience of a rock magazine would expect to see the main image relating to the rock genre in someway. For example, props like a guitar or a drum kit as these are commonly associated with rock music. Also, the audience will expect to see a good colour scheme that can be associated with a rock magazine, for example, darker colours like black and grey.

Classic Rock use the conventions of the rock genre to maximize the potential customers that will consume their magazine. Classic rock are able to do this as they like to use images of older rock stars as their main image. This means that they are able to use conventions to match the masthead of the magazine as they use classic rock stars to cover the Classic Rock magazine. Classic Rock, also follow conventions by using a limited amount of colour as seen in the bottom right image down below of one of their magazines front cover so they reduce the amount of people that will be put off by the magazine. Classic rock also like to use props the are typical from the rock genre, as many of their magazine covers feature a rock star holding a guitar. They use these conventions to maximize appeal the fans of this genre.

Down below is a mood board of some things that will appeal to my target audience. For example, Outfits, props and colour scheme of a magazine

Institutional research

                                    Institutional research

One of publishing companies I have chosen to pick is TeamRock as they publish Classic Rock which has influenced my own rock magazine. TeamRock brought Classic rock back in 2013 along with another magazine called Metal Hammer. These magazines were brought off publishing company "Future" who was responsible for publishing them before 2013. Now Classic Rock is part of a chain of magazines published by TeamRock as they publish its sister publications Metal Hammer and Prog magazine.

Classic Rock Focuses on bands dating back to the 1960's through to the early 1990's and stared bands such as Guns N Roses and Queen and even featured Jimi Hendricks on the cover a couple of times. This publisher would be ideal for me as our magazine fits into the idea around the magazine classic rock as its a rock magazine, and therefore, share the same Genre and interests. Furthermore, the reason why I feel this is a great publisher to chose is that they have experience within the rock industry and have the budget to oversee any project that comes there way and also has become one of the biggest music magazines in England with a total circulation of 56,714 as of December 2012.

I also like the ideologies the TeamRock has which is to produce High quality and in depth material from the rock and roll world which consists of reviews, interviews and videos to entertain and please the fans of rock. I think that this suits the wants and needs of my Music magazine as I want to be able to produce a high quality magazine that's going to appeal to my target audience which is what TeamRock are specialists at doing.

Another thing that will benefit my magazine and is a huge strength of choosing TeamRock as my publishers is because they have many different ways to engage and advertise to the audience listening. This will be great for my magazine as I will be able to advertise my magazine on their radio stations which will attract the audience as they are already a fan of rock due to the fact they are listening to a TeamRock radio station. Therefore, I will be able to display and distribute my magazine to my target audience effectively very early on as they have the facilities and a large fan base already. However, TeamRock are an independent publisher unlike Bauer Media Group, Future Plc and IPC Media which, puts them at a disadvantage because of the much more powerful competition they are up against. This means that, my target audience might be significantly smaller than the mainstream publishers due to it being a smaller brand, however, Classic rock currently has the highest amount of circulation in the UK over magazines like Kerrang, which means the rock culture in the UK have a greater interest in 1960's 1990's rock vibe, which is what my magazine is going to be focusing on.

However, their are companies like Kerrang who have been around for substantially longer than Classic Rock and therefore, are less of a household name as a result. Kerrang, also are owned by one of the more dominant publishing companies, Bauer Media Group, which are also one of the big three publishing groups in the magazine industry and therefore, I would also choose Bauer Media Group as my publishing company as they have experience in the rock magazine industry. Furthermore, another reason why I would Choose Bauer Media Group is because, they have 50 radio stations based around the world. This would allow me to advertise my magazine across the world to the majority of my target audience (Fans of rock) which will appeal a lot to fans of rock and especially if they like Kerrang who are owned by Bauer Media Group.

Furthermore, this will  increasing the distribution of the magazine i have created by using the radio stations Bauer media group to broadcast my product to the rock fan base. own to benefit my magazine. I also think that there policy is good as they want to connect audiences with excellent content through their broad multi-touch point brand platforms, wherever and whenever and however they want. They also have a wide portfolio of influential brands which gives them an advantage over other magazines and competitors. This will be very beneficial for my magazine as marketing and advertising the magazine will not be a problem as its something that Kerrang and Bauer Media Group  specialise and excel and something that they are very passionate about getting right as mentioned by themselves. Also, the fact that Bauer Media Group are a mainstream business means that they are more popular and well known than other magazine publishers which, gives you a better advantage than maybe choosing a independent publisher like TeamRock which are less of a mainstream company and therefore, less well known and puts them at a disadvantage due to the tough competition of bigger competitors.

Overall evaluation of Team Rock and Bauer Media Group

Overall, the publishing company that will suit my magazine the best is TeamRock. This is because I want my magazine to reach and achieve the same ethos and views that they have but to also deliver similar and high quality content which, meets the wants and needs of the rock audience which, TeamRock manage to accomplish with their magazine Classic Rock and  therefore, appeals and satisfies the audience as a result of the high demand for this genre. Furthermore, Classic Rock has a bigger fan base than Bauer Media Group's counter part Kerrang which, suggests that people have a much larger interest for a classic rock themed magazine. So, by choosing TeamRock, I will be able to distribute and give the audience what they want, which is a classic rock vibe to the magazine. Furthermore, I also know who my target audience is as people who like classic rock are generally more older people, where as Kerrang have a wide range of audiences as they have all sorts of bands, new and old, in their magazine, which is why it would be harder to pinpoint an exact audience, and appealing to each individual one in some sort of way.

Article research

                                   Article Research

Classic rocks style of writing if seen as informal and a lot of the text if very direct to the reader so feel more involved as the magazines writing makes the magazine become more interactive with the fans. Therefore, I would like to replicate Classic Rocks style of writing as our magazine wants to be able to interact more with the consumers of our magazine. This will also appeal to the consumer as they want to feel included into the rock world especially if they are big fans of the genre. T

This example of magazine is very simplistic due to the spacing of the fonts as well as the font colour.

Classic Rock uses direct texts like "you" to gain your attention and make it feel like their talking straight at you. This appeals to people as they don't want to feel bored when reading and by constantly using these words, you are gaining their attention every time. Classic Rock also use cover lines like "You're top 10 picks" to allow the audience to get involved with the content of the magazine as it applies to each viewer individually and what type of rock music they like as a spectator of the rock genre.

I want to recreate this unique style of presenting, and writing as I feel classic rock's magazines stand out from the rest, by how different and creative they are. I also am just really appealed by their magazines, and would be something I would love to try and recreate.

Codes and conventions of a rock magazine

             The codes and conventions of a rock magazine

Colour Scheme - The common colour scheme for rock magazines tends to be dark colours like black and grey but sometimes a common background colour is white. Rock magazines also tend to mix white and black colours as well as adding in a brighter colours like red or yellow for the text on the magazine cover.

Masthead - The masthead is usually in the colours black, white, yellow or red and usually is in a big bold text and sometimes uses wacky font that catches the audiences eye.

Skyline - The skyline normally contains some of the rock bands that are featured in the magazine which attracts someone to buying it and also could appeal to a bands fan base if they are featured in a magazine

Anchorage text - The anchorage text establishes why the main image has been chosen by explaining how the image is related to the contents within the magazine. This appeals to the audience as they want to be able to find out why the star is on the cover of the magazine

Main image - The main image is normally a direct image that displays the rockstar with some kind of instrument. For example, a guitar or drum sticks. Props are used because they help establish the genre of the magazine and people who like the specific genre will see what the magazine is about from the props used and therefore, will purchase the magazine as a result.

Prezi  - Codes and conventions of a rock magazine