Initial thoughts

I aim to create an indie rock magazine that gives new and upcoming news about specific artists and their music. I will target my magazine at ABC1 men, aged between 15-30 as the magazines I take inspiration from also share this target market and are very successful; this market appears to be more in sync with the media. I will produce a questionnaire that will give me the relevant information for deciding the conventions of my magazine, things such as layout, when my magazine should issue and the type of content the end consumers are interested in. My initial thoughts for these conventions, before I carry out the questionnaire are as follows:

I intend to make my magazine mainstream like NME and Q so that my potential market isn’t limited as niche publications are. Therefore I would take into consideration the success of these inspirational magazines to make decisions about my own magazine’s codes and conventions. I chose to price my magazine at £2.10 since NME’s newsagents cover price is £2.20. If my magazine was actually being sold and distributed then this price would compete with the others. I would choose mainstream supermarkets such as ASDA and Tesco to distribute my magazine, also Newsagents and news-stands. Also I would offer a subscription online to keep up with media/technology trends, making my magazine potentially available to a wider market, making my magazine more convenient for the end consumer and more easily accessible. I chose to issue my magazine fortnightly to keep the anticipation of consumers, maintaining the hype around the next issue. My chosen colour scheme is red black and white, similar to NME. These are bold, striking and attractive colours which work well for NME. The connotations link well with the genre I have chosen: Black is positively a colour of authority and power, it can also have the connotation of mystery, however it can also connote death and rebellion. The colour red connotes, love, passion and energy but also can be inferred as a provocative, sexy colour. However the fact that it is the colour of blood and fire means it can also connote danger and death. The colour white is in stark contrast with red and black as its usual connotation is purity; however it is good to use in a magazine to even out the balance of colours. The have the intention of making my layout simple but striking, I do not want the page to be too busy. The main image will take up the middle third of the page, making a bold statement that the consumers are immediately drawn to. The most important cover lines will be placed on the left third of the page as it is the first thing seen when the magazine is positioned on a news stand. I also want there to be a puff promoting a competition or a featured poster, this will also be on the left third. In the content of my magazine I aim to have topics of festivals, upcoming gigs and tours. Also interesting articles about most loved indie rock artists.
My ideas for my magazine name are:
- Clique
- CLIQUE
- KLIK
- Stone
- Forgotten