Masthead Ideas

So far I have only tried out black and white masthead ideas. However, I have found a great font which I think is bold enough without the use of colour.

This is the font I think will be used for my masthead. However, I'm still deciding on a brand name. So far, in this particular font, I think 'Citadel' and 'Bulwark' look best. I think 'Rhythmus' is too long to be used for a brand name.

I could create another questionnaire to ask which mastheads my target audience prefer.

Questionnaire Results

The majority of those who filled in the questionnaire were between the ages of 15 to 25, which means that my magazine will likely have a teenage and young adult target audience.

Almost half of the people asked would be interested in a new rock music magazine, which is a fairly large audience as I expected fewer to be interested in a rock music magazine particularly. Some reasons for people answering 'yes' were:

•  'I think there is a gap in the market for a new rock magazine, especially for teenagers'
• 'It would be nice to see a modern view on rock music'
• There may be a 'wider range of bands' and 'new interviews/reviews'
• 'The genre has a lot to offer'
• It is an opportunity to 'learn about new groups'
• 'The rock magazines on the market already aren't that good'

The people asked to complete the questionnaire thought a price between £1.00 and £1.99 would be the expected rate for a music magazine, although a price between £2.00 and £2.99 came an extremely close second.

7. What encourages you to buy an issue of a music magazine?

Results from the questionnaire have shown that features such as the front cover image, the price and the headlines of the magazine are the ones more likely to encourage a potential customer to buy the issue of the magazine.

9. What three colours would you associate with the colour scheme of a rock music magazine?

The three colours most often chosen out of the options were red, black and white - typical colours of a music magazine, as shown in previous research of magazines such as Rolling Stone and NME. The colours purple and grey were also popular. I think purple would be a good key colour in the house style for an alternative rock magazine. Grey would be dull as part of a house style with the other two colours as black and white. Therefore I need to choose between the colours purple and red for my music magazine, with the two other colours as black and white.

I asked some of those who filled in the questionnaire to also list some of their favourite rock bands. Here are a few of the ones that were listed:

• Led Zeppelin
• Guns and Roses
• Arctic Monkeys
• Disturbed
• Avenged Sevenfold
• The Killers
• Muse
• The Black Keys
• Queen
• MGMT
• Velvet Underground
• The Doors
• Three Days Grace
• Exit Ten
• Black Stone Cherry
• Billy Talent
• Train
• The Butterfly Effect
• Bring Me the Horizon 

I could research these artists to find out what music magazines they have been featured in to give me some ideas as to how my music magazine shall look and what specific kind of rock is more popular than others.

My Brand Identity & Values

Brand Identity: I would like my magazine to be a fresher view on modern rock, although I would like to keep some classic elements of rock and magazine characteristics too. The age range of the target audience for my magazine will probably range from about 15 - 25, judging by the results of a questionnaire I handed out to 25 people. I shall most likely use Sans-Serif font for my masthead so that I can attract this younger target audience to my magazine front cover.
Brand Values: I'm hoping to represent and give a fresh take on modern rock bands and artists through my magazine, as well as upcoming bands and artists.

NME & Rolling Stone: Brand Identity & Values

Brand Identity: How all of the different elements and characteristics of a variety of a brand's front covers distinguish the brand to the audience, e.g. masthead, house style, layout, font, etc.

Brand Values: What the brand is attempting to represent through the product or brand.

As the majority of music magazines do (including Rolling Stone), NME makes use of the colours red, white and black in its logo. Its masthead changes from cover to cover to suit the layout for that particular issue, and the layout of each issue depends on the artist being featured. In this way, NME adapts well to each artist's style, capturing the attention of those interested in that style. 

Something that is consistent in each issue, however, is the use of Sans-Serif font for the masthead. Sans-Serif is a font which is considered contemporary, youthful and fresh, and attracts a young and modern target audience. The featured artists are usually young and often relatively new to the music industry, which also attracts younger readers. Its inconsistency in colour schemes for each cover of an issue and its bold covers attract a constantly changing and contemporary audience.

In contrast the slight inconsistency of NME, Rolling Stone's magazine covers are almost always identical in layout and masthead design. The masthead is always across the top of the magazine cover and is in red, white and black, like the majority of music magazines. The cover photo is usually a close up or mid shot and occasionally somewhere between a long and mid shot of the featured artist, and in the majority of pictures the subject is making eye contact with the camera to involve the audience.

The masthead is always in Serif font, which is considered to be formal, sophisticated and established, attracting perhaps an older, more traditional and conservative target audience. Although the photos do feature some young artists, quite often Rolling Stone will feature an older artist, or at least an artist with more traditional music produced, to attract more refined readers to the magazine.

Ideas for Brand Name

Pulse

Cadence

Volt 

Citadel

Thrive

Red 

Rubble

Bulwark

Rhythmus

These are some ideas for the brand name of my music magazine. So far my target audience seems to have preferred the names, 'Pulse', 'Volt', 'Citadel', 'Bulwark' and 'Rhythmus'. I think this is because 'Pulse' and 'Volt' are very short yet catchy names, 'Citadel' gives the impression of a strong, powerful music magazine, 'Bulwark' sounds unusual but some of the target audience believed it had positive connotations for a rock magazine, and 'Rhythmus' also sounds unusual but also links back to music. I especially think that the last two potential names may be good for capturing the attention of a niche target audience.

I would presume that 'Red' was not liked so much as it isn't a particularly imaginative title, and 'Rubble', despite suiting the genre of rock music, has negative connotations.

Questionnaire - Market Research

1. Are you male or female?
- Male [ ]
- Female [ ]


 2. How old are you?
- 10 – 14 [ ]
- 15 – 25 [ ]
- 26 – 35 [ ]
- 35 + [ ]


 3. Do you already read any music magazines?
 - Yes [ ]
 - No [ ]
If your answer is ‘yes’, please list the names of the music magazines you already read: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


 4. Would you be interested in a new rock music magazine?
- Yes [ ]
- No [ ]

Why:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


5. What kind of articles would you want to find in a music magazine? Tick all that apply.
 - Charts/best-selling music [ ]
- Interviews with artists, bands, etc. [ ]
- Reviews of albums/singles [ ]
- Tour dates [ ]
- Fan mail from readers [ ]
- Fashion/artists’ styles [ ]
- Competitions e.g. with prizes for readers [ ]
- New/upcoming artists [ ]
- Quizzes [ ]


 6. How much would you expect to pay for a music magazine?
- £1 – £1.99 [ ]
- £2 – £2.99 [ ]
- £3 - £3.99 [ ]
- £4 + [ ]


 7. What encourages you to buy an issue of a music magazine? Tick all that apply.
- Front cover image [ ]
- Headlines [ ]
- Price [ ]
- Name of magazine [ ]
- Featured articles on contents page [ ]
- Other: _______________________ [ ]


 8. Do you prefer a very ‘busy contents page’ or a ‘spacious/image dominated contents page’?

 ‘Busy contents page’ [ ]

‘Spacious/image dominated contents page’ [ ]

 Why:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


 9. Which of these colours would you associate with the colour scheme of a rock music magazine? Tick three boxes.
 - Red [ ]
- Yellow [ ]
- Green [ ]
- Orange [ ]
- Purple [ ]
- Blue [ ]
- Navy [ ]
- Grey [ ]
- White [ ]
- Black [ ]


 10. Do you enjoy listening to rock music?
- Yes [ ]
- No [ ]

If your answer is ‘yes’, please list any specific rock bands you like: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Prezi: Analysis & Textual Reading of NME