Planning - Contents Page

 This is the initial layout of my contents page. There are still things that need to be added and changed and moved around. I closely copied the contents page from the old edition of NME, before it rebranded and became more modern, as the category of music and the genre is similar to my style. Also having read a lot of NME I am familiar with the design layout.

Research - Double Page Spread

 This is my Double Page Spread for my music magazine. The masthead is a pun because the album for the artist is called "Across the Sands" so the sand sounds like the word sound. There is a pull quote to break up the text. The picture takes up half of the double page spread so there is not too much writing in one place. At the moment I am struggling with the proportions of the text as there is some that is not visible as it is underneath the picture.

Planning - Magazine Copy

HOW DO YOU MAKE THE BEST ALBUM OF 2015? Astrix knows how. “Across The Sands” is the album that everyone should own. It has everything from the acoustic “Artistic Angel” to the loud,bold and heavy “Give It Up”. These are just two of the eleven beautiful songs on the album. We caught up with Astrix to chat about the new album and also an exclusive announcement of her 2016 UK tour “Too Fast for Love”.

“Across The Sands” is one of the biggest albums in 2015, if not the biggest. What were your inspirations to create this fantastic album?

“Where do I start? I just thought one day ‘I want to write an album’. So I did just that. A lot of my inspiration came from when I was younger. As a pretty reckless child I used my experiences with drugs and drink to write. I remember a time when I was about 16 and I went to see The Wombats right after “A guide to Love, Loss and Desperation” was released, me and my friends got stupidly drunk before the gig. It was one of the sweatiest gigs I’d been to. There was beer and piss being lobbed everywhere and so many people crowd surfing and from that moment on I knew that I wanted to write music and perform.

In terms of bands and artists who are your biggest influences?

I listen to so many different bands and artists it’s impossible to pick. I grew up with The Smiths and The Cure because my dad used to be obsessed with them so they are really important in my life. The Smiths really give my inspiration for my writing because Morrissey used to write brilliant lyrics and he is just such a key musician in my life. When writing this album I’ve been listening to a lot of Royal Blood, Peace, Slaves and Mac Demarco. They are all bloody fantastic and I just really love what they do. They are all so unique and different and it’s wonderful to know that they do what they love.

Any festivals lined up for this year?

Well, I don’t know if I’m allowed to say but yes, yes I do. A couple actually. Obviously not headlining because I’m not that good but yeah got a couple.

Speaking of festivals, have you been to any?

Have I been to festivals? Of course I’ve been to festivals. Reading 2007. Red Hot Chili Peppers, who I’ve heard are headlining again next year. I’m quite excited actually. We went to Leeds in 2009 which was just the best thing ever. I remember being at the barrier for the Arctic Monkeys which was insane! And Ian Brown who is just a rock legend so that was pretty spectacular too. I went to Latitude a couple of times which was cool. They are completely different festivals so Latitude is a lot more chill then Reading and Leeds.

With the release of the new album is there going to be a tour?

That’s like asking, will the plant grow without water. Yes there will be a tour. I haven’t toured on my own before, only ever with other bands so I’m very excited to be touring solo.

Can you tell us who your support act will be?

If I told you I’d have to kill you. No I can’t tell you. Only because I don’t know who will support.

Where are you playing when you tour?

The usual for musicians to be honest. Manchester, London, Birmingham and that. Dates and exact locations will be released January 2016 some time but I don’t know what date.

What do you do in your down time?

Erm, I don’t have a lot of time to myself actually but when I do I usually go out and drink with my old friends. I also like to listen to my records when I go home which is extremely rare so yeah.

Thank you for coming in to talk to me. Good luck on the tour next year.

Thank you. Bye.

Planning - Current Stage of Front Cover

Current Stage of Front Cover

Progress has been made from the last time I updated the blog. There has been more pugs added and there have been other colours added.

Planning - Current Stage of my Front Cover

Current Stage of Front Cover

This is my front cover at this stage in the process. There is still a lot more to add as there is not enough plugs so far. There is only the exclusive interview and also the name of the artist who is featured on the front cover. Also the name and the barcode.

Generic Research - Q Magazine Reader Profile

InDesign Trial

InDesign First Trial

This is my first attempt at using InDesign. As you can see I have inserted different columns for text to go. There is a box where my masthead would go. Also I wrapped the text around the photo so that there was no words behind the picture and the picture was integrated into the text. I think I shall enjoy using the software.

Planning - Audience Feedback from Pitch

Audience Feedback from Pitch

The audience that I pitched too seemed to be really for my name, cover line and article. They correctly identified which genre this magazine is and what the demographic that I targeted it towards was which shows that it is clear from my flat plan and ideas the direction I want this to take. They did suggest, however, having an in-house colour such as red or yellow as this will make it easily recognisable as a magazine. 

Planning - Brief Pitch for My Idea

Brief Pitch for My Idea

I have decided to call my music magazine "The Verge" because it is an indie magazine and to be on the verge means to be on the edge and this magazine is not too mainstream, it is meant to be indie. Also it is a play on the name of indie rock band The Verve, which will attract indie music fans.

My target audience is younger people in the age demographic from around 16-24 as right now they are the most interested in music (especially indie). Indie teenagers are most into music and are most interested in reading about it and I thought that it would be great to target teens as they are in the know about what is cool in the indie world.

My front cover is a picture of a made up female artist named Astrid. The coverline will be simply "An Interview with Astrid" as the double page spread is ,literally, an interview with the featured artist.

Planning - Lexicon of Words

Lexicon of Words

I chose to do a wordle to present my words as it is a unique way of showing different words that are related to the indie genre. I chose these words as they would be featured a lot when talking about different gigs and bands, hence why some of these words are on here. They are all suitable for the indie category. 

Planning - Contact Sheet of Images

Contact Sheet of Images

This is my contact sheet of different images that I took for my music magazine. There are different shots at different locations. This is to show diversity. Also there are different shot types, so close ups, medium shots and long shots. As seen there are some photos that are not brilliant quality so will not be featured but I have picked several that will feature as they are all suitable for the indie genre and fit well with my whole idea.

Planning - Flatplan

Flatplan

This is my flatplan for my music magazine. I thought to do a simple front cover plan as people would remember it as it is simple yet effective. Also because it is an indie music magazine the simplicity and minimalistic style will appeal to my target audience.