Cover Design Ideas

To begin with I sketched 2 ideas of for the actual layout of my front cover on some scrap paper however I then decided to develop them slightly on a clearer level by using microsoft publisher. Despite this being a quick draft and not the final piece I still kept into consideration the colour scheme, the look of my masthead and main image. These are the 2 ideas.

Other ways of attracting the audience

I have decided that every 2 months my magazine will offer 'freebies' or have competitions for the audience to enter in and potentially win a prize of some sort, either tickets to shows, holidays or money. These are things that would please my target audience and this would attract the audience as they will keep coming back in hopes of succeeding in winning.

Sell lines

I now need to think about what stories my audience will expect; this would be stories about:

• the latest trends
• the latest events
• films
• music
• outing destinations
• interviews
• lifestyle

I now have to think of some sell lines that go along with these expectations, the ten I've come up with so far are:

1. Having trouble picking up women on a day out? 5 Sure-fire ways to fix that inside!
2. 20 steps to looking your best this year.
3. Best places to take her out on a date.
4. Must see films of 2014.
5. Interview with Justin Timberlake inside, all about his new album and more...
6. Chance to win £2000 and 2 tickets to see JT perform!
7. How to turn ageing into your friend.
8. Channing Tatum's fitness regime for his new role.
9. How turn 5 suits into a different outfit for every day of the year.
10. List of 2013's top 50 hottest entertainers.

Now I need to decide on a price, how often my magazine will come out and on a slogan. I want my magazine to come out monthly as a week isn't enough for a massive amount to change in the entertainment and fashion industries so I believe a price of £3.99 is reasonable for a monthly magazine. Seeing as it is a monthly magazine my slogan will be "Keeping you up to date, month after month."

Model for cover (continued)

After some consideration I have finally decided to choose the cover idea on the left. I'm doing this because despite slightly diverting from the conventions that the picture on the right follows so well the picture on the left because it still draws the readers attention on the same level. Also despite not looking in the audiences eyes to engage them Justin Timberlake in this photo is actually drawing the audience to follow his eyes to read the anchoring text he will be staring at which will engage them as they read it because they will feel as if they are reading together with Justin Timberlake.

Model for cover

The model of my choice was Justin Timberlake because he's a famous and idoled man my audience would agree dresses well and he is an entertainer. The location and time will simply be at a photo studio around 3pm with a green screen should specific backgrounds be decided on. The props and costumes I will need are:

• Blazers
• Shirts
• Trousers
• Shoes
• Ties and/or Bowties

My 3 rough design plans I hope my cover will look like are as follows

Magazine Masthead Design

I came up with 3 potential designs for my masthead. These are the 3:

    After asking people who could potentially be the audience for this magazine which masthead they liked the most the feedback I got was that they liked the background and silhouette of the 1st idea but would like to see it with the font of the 2nd masthead idea. Idea 3 wasn't that popular so I decided to make a 4th idea by combining ideas 1 and 2.

After doing so I reapproached the potential audience and requested their opinion. They all preferred this new idea so I'm going to stick with it.

 

 





Planning My Magazine: Pre Production

To begin with I had to select a genre for my magazine, I chose Men's fashion and entertainment. This is because this genre has a wide audience and I have a certain amount of knowledge and interest on the topic. There are many fashion magazines for women but not as many for men. The conventions of this genre are information on: the latest fashion trends, the latest occurances, the latest shows, actors, models and interviews with them.
The audience I'm aiming at will be male, between the ages of 24-40. This is because most teenagers don't dress in suits like men. My audiences typical likes would be: fashion, films, being up to date with current affairs, going out, having fun, being a bachelor. Their dislikes would be Idle Gossip. They would normally be middle-high class with a decent-high wage with enough money to splash out, whether regularly or occasionally. The audience would probably be businessmen, doctors, actors, models. My typical magazine reader would be a man in his prime, around 28, he is fit, young, healthy and single and enjoys going out, partying and looking his best and sharp. He is decently wealthy and works as a businessman.
The title of my magazine is Men's Fashion Entertainment, as that is what it's about. It will occasionally be abbreviated to MFE for marketing and advertising purposes. I will be using a sharp font but it will also be fun, like what I want my audience to be.

My research into the magazine industry

There are many famous magazines currently on the market such as Vogue, Rolling Stones, GQ, Cosmopolitan, OK! and Men's Health. These magazines are so famous and succesful because they successfully appeal to their target audiences and keep them coming back. The 7 sectors in the industry are:

1. Women's Monthly Magazines
2. Men's Lifestyle Magazines
3. Women's Weekly Magazines
4. Teenage Magazines
5. TV Listings/ Soap Magazines
6. Home Interest Magazines
7. Music Magazines

I decided to make a magazine that would fit into the Men's Lifestyle Magazines sector and make it about Men's fashion and entertainment. To get more information on this I researched magazines such as GQ and looked at the things they did to attract their target audiences and appeal to them.