Weekly Schedule

Week 25th/10/13

Today I have just been briefly exploring mission statements from magazine's such as Q and Kerrang to see what they offer to their target audience and how I can use that to influence my product.
Then exploring many genres of music such as R&B and Rap. However, because that music is very common and over merchandised I'd like to change the industry up a bit by using a music genre that is roundelay recognised by the young generation but isn't as acknowledged in the music industry as it could and should be.
I then began exploring afrobeats and bashment because as a music consumer my self, and a fan of that genre/s, I have realised that i've actually never seen a magazine on them.

Weekly journal 18/11/13

This week I have established that my chosen genre is going to be afrobeats and bashement. Before I was able to settle with my chooses genre I briefly asked a wide range if teens seeing as they are my chosen audience, what sort of genre of music they would most prefer to read about. The mainstream genres came up I.e hip hop, r&b, rap but them I began to hear Afro beats and bashement. I then realised then that is such a niche market because as I done more research it came to light that there are no print copies in any music magazine of that genre. It was all based online which ofcourse would benefit the young generation but if there were a print copy in every shelf from newsagent to local supermarket teens would be garentued to buy it because they would enjoy consuming it. Offcourse my magazine would have to go the extra mile to compete with the online market but online doesn't beat the quality of entertainment you have when your reading the magazine for yourself. It's a more reliable source as it is published and cannot be ultred after it is on the shelf where's online it's always changeable.

Weekly journal 25/11/13

Throughout this last week, I have began searching through all my target audience what genre they prefer and why.
I have used social networking sites such as whats app, twitter and Facebook to receive feed back from 16-19 year olds aswell as early 20 year olds but the majority were teens.

Weekly journal 2/12/13

This past week I have began exploring my genre more, going deeper into details such as where it originated, who it has influenced, why it has become popular, what communities it influences more than others, typical stereotypes, examples of artists, where we would hear this music, what age range listen to this music, there class and ethnicity.
This has a great impact. It allows me to make relevant decisions such as how I'm going to attract my target audience from colour of font to the style of font because when I know each and every detail about my audience it then allows me to make progress in offering them the best product possible.
I have also created a questionnare for my audience on there prefered name for the magazine and its genre.
The names were:
-Rhythmix
-Vybzing
-Musicality
-Respect

Most were conflicted between Rhythmix and Vybzing but it came down to Vybzing as it suited the genre more.

Weekly journal 9/12/13

This week I have just continued exploring the origins of my choosen genre, who would normally listen to this type of music, their social status, life style and much more.
Iv just been making sure my blog is up to date. I have then decided to confirm what masthead I am going for and began researching locations for my chosen pictures.

Weekly Journal  16/12/13

This week I have been briefly exploring radio stations which broadcast online aswell as on radio. Dj abrantee is the most popular out of all of them as they have set themselves a reputation which cannot be overthrown. In addition to that I have also been talking to my potential models who have kindly agreed to model for me.
In the next week I will be finding suitable locations and doing a health and saftey assesment.

Weekly Journal  23/12/13

This week I have planned to go out with my models this saturday in order to take pictures.
Last week I went to my friends birthday party which featured my genre of music as well as my target audience so I then took interviews in order to add to my research as to why afrobeats is such a nieche genre and yet so many youths listen to it. It is just under recognised.

Weekly journal 30/12/13

This past week I have just been reviewing all my work from photo's to videos , making sure everything is on my blog and updated. I have also been adding more opinions and about my genre and have tried to contact capital xtra fm to get them to answer a few questions on my genre but unfortunately have not had a response.

Week Journal 6/01/14

Happy new year!!
This week my main targets are to begin exploring different lay outs and comparing my magazine style to other genres of magazine and trying to take similar aspects from them aswell as adding my own original ideas.
Last Week I was just reading some articles on Afrobeats and how it has expanded to western civilisation.

Weekly journal 13/01/14

This week I have began thinking about marketing strategies.
Using social networking sites such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to get a trend going with the name Vybzing.
I have also been thinking about colour coordination and how I want my magazine to come across. I have decided i want an urban feel as well as an exotic african feel to add the culture into it because when your in a packed, urban area such as london people tend to loose themselves and i'm hoping my magazine will be a way in which my readers can relax and take time out from there fast pace life style.

Weekly update week commencing 20/01/14

During this past week I have been deciding on what picture I should use as my front cover.
I was stuck between a close up photo of Anna by her self and a long shot photo of both Anna and TJ.
My teacher then said that a magazine with a back ground does not look as professional as that of a music magazine because most music magazine do not have a background on there front covers.
I then began removing the background on photo shop.
Many of my target audience then began to comment on how there may not be enough space for headlines if I have two cover stars. So I began separating Anna's long shot picture so that it is only her on the front cover.

I then considered the masthead of the magazine and realised that the proper and conventional thing to do with any magazine would be to have the masthead right across the page. However I have decided not to as it is very mainstream and my magazine genre is not at all mainstream in the music magazine world but individual and  different as well as ironically popular. 

Weekly Journal 27/01/14

This week I have just downloaded different fonts for my music magazine sell lines and I have still been exploring my colour scheme. I am very determined to use the red,green,yellow and black scheme as they are african colours but also Caribbean colours as well so my audience will associate the music with the colour and therefore there origins.
I have also come it with my final slogan which is "Bringing African Vybz Closer to you"

Weekly Journal  3/02/14

During this past week I have been making so many different changes with the lay out of my magazine and the different types of fonts I should be using.
I've had to change Annabella's positions quite a few times but I am worried that this picture in particular will not be as suitable for my magazine as I thought because my teacher thinks she is not as professional as she could be. She described her as a typical London girl which although would be good for my target audience because they can relate to her, I should have dressed her as a more glamorous character so not only would the audience look up and relate to her but also aspire to be her. This will give my magazine a prestigious,classy look but also from a parents perspective an inspirational magazine that will not influence there children in a bad way.

I have also decided to use a different model from a different ethnicity (European) to break conventions that not all Afro beat artists have to come from an Africa/Afro-Caribbean background the same way r&b female singers to need to be black to sing that certain genre e.g. Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey.
This will show that Afro beats has in fact influenced so many different generations and has grown amongst other cultures to the point where they adapt there music to fuse African vybz together as well.

One of the key things that I have decided to change is the costume so instead of my model wearing casual clothes on the front cover I can leave the casual look for the double page spread.
The front cover will consist of my model wearing a more glamorous, classy but slightly provocative dress code.
Perhaps something we would wear on a night out e.g. High hells, fur coat/scarf, classy body con dress to show figure which creates a sex appeal for the male audience and aspirational appeal for the female audience or a summer type style e.g. shorts, loose t-shirt.
If I were to have a more glamorous shot my actor would be in a very lit up place and I would use a prop such as a prestigious chair to show her superiority and there fore encourage the audience to take her seriousl as well as the magazine its self

Weekly Journal 10/2/14

This week I have been exploring different double page spreads and contents pages in order to see what the typical conventions of a magazine double page spread and content page was. In some magazines there double page spreads consist of one picture on one side for example:

Weekly Journal 17/02/14

This week I have finalised all my plans for my double page spread and content page. I have begun both my contents page and double page spread.
For my content page I have drawn up my own back ground logo. I then took a picture of it and began editing it on photoshop using tools such as magic wand tool, quick select and alignment.
I then changed the background colour to emphasise the logo in the background.

For my double page spread I used my picture that I took of my model who is laid back and relaxed in this photo creating a more chilled back atmosphere.

I am still considering the page style; whether I want half the page blank and the other side just the picture.

Weekly Journal 24/02/14

During this past week I have improved my contents page and double page spread immensely.
I have taken much more pictures for my contents page but I have decided to use one main picture to represent my cover star.

In the end I decided to use a white background for half the page because the writing is more visible and I can do any design of writing and colour I want with out worrying if it will stand out or not. Now i am facing difficulty with the writing lay out. Im not to sure whether to have it as plain straight columns through out the whole article of have some pictures.                              

On one side I want pictures to keep my audience engaged. On the other i'm quite confident with the quality of my writing that my audience will be entertained enough as my article is an inspirational, encouraging article.

This is what my contents page looks like so far.