RATIONALES BY S O P H I E S M I T H

MAGAZINE NAME…

I decided to call my magazine ‘Unplugged’ as it has a strong link to music, particularly pop music which makes it easier for the readers to know what genre of music the magazine is just be reading the name of it. I picked this name as it is well known for being used to describe acoustic music which is a section of pop music which I wanted to explore for my magazine. ‘Unplugged’ can also be used in music to describe a toned down version of both music and artists which I liked the idea of for my magazine. I also thought that the name of my magazine can link to the article in my magazine as I could write about a stripped back version of the artist and the truth behind what the music industry wants the artist to be like to appeal to the audience. I chose this name for my magazine because like other POP music magazines, the name links to music. After researching words that link to music, I chose unplugged because it is also a single word and single words are almost always used for POP music magazines. An example of this is ‘Billboard’ magazine.

‘Unplugged’

FONT FOR MASTHEAD…

I chose the font ’Nova Solid’ to use for my masthead on my magazine. I chose this font because it is modern which will fit with the theme of my magazine. I also picked this font as it looks as if it would be used on a pop music magazine and the block lettering will look good on the cover of my magazine. This font is easy to read so it will not cause any issues with the audience but it is not so simple that it becomes boring and does not have any affect on the readers. This font is bold so it will stand out on the cover of my magazine, which will also attract attention so more people will choose my magazine if it was with others. The font stands out from the dominant image but does not take away from it and will look good in any colour which can be useful if the colour scheme and theme changes in each magazine issue.This font is similar to those used in POP music magazines so I decided to use it for my magazine. Bold fonts are used in magazines such as ‘Billboard’, and ‘Q’, which are some of the magazines I researched. This type of font is a common convention for music magazines so I chose to include it to make it more professional.

FONT FOR ARTIST NAME…Engravers MT

I chose ‘Engravers MT’ as the font for the artist name on the cover of my magazine. I chose to use this font because it is completely different to the font I used for the masthead which makes the name of the feature artist stand out. Where I had used a new, modern style font for the masthead, I chose to use an old, retro style font for the artist name to give contrast and to make my magazine look original. I chose this font because it is easy to read so if someone looked at it quickly they would still understand what it said. I also chose to use this font as an old style font is being used more often in pop music magazines and album covers, which links straight back to the genre of music my magazine is based on. I liked this font because the letters were not joined up and were all bold capital letters, creating a dramatic affect.This font is a common convention of music magazines which is why I chose to use it for my magazine. I was inspired to use this font from magazines such as Billboard, Q, and Nme.

FONT FOR SUB-TITLES AND COVER…

The font I am going to use for the sub-titles throughout the magazine and on the cover is ‘Eurostile’. I chose this font because it is very simple. As all of the other fonts I have used for my magazine have been very bold and dramatic, I have chosen a simple font to tone the magazine down so it is not too over dramatic and is easy to look at and read. The simple font stands out amongst the bold fonts drawing the audiences attention to what is in the article. This font is a good font to use to provide the readers with more information as it is easy to read and easy to look at for a longer period of time than a title. This font fits with the meaning of my masthead as being toned down. This font will compliment the other fonts on the cover because it is so simple and modern.

FONT FOR TITLE OF ARTICLE…

I have chosen to use the font ‘Riesling’ for the title of my article in my magazine. I have chosen this font because it is simple but different at the same time. It is a font that is easy to read because it is not as bold as the others and the letters are not completely joined up. This font reflects the personality I am trying to put across in the article of my magazine which is another reason as to why I chose this font. This font would look good on the article page as it fits with the style of images on that page. It also fits in with the font I will use for the actual article as I will use a very simple font for the article and this more bold font to make it stand out.

FONT FOR ARTICLE…

I have chosen to use the font ‘Arial’ when writing my article for my magazine. I have chosen this font because it is simple and is easy to read. This font is a good font to use when writing long pieces of writing as it does not confuse the readers and makes it very easy to read. I chose to use this font because it fits with the modern theme of my magazine and will go well with the font I have chosen to use for the title of my article and the sub-title. This font is commonly used when writing articles which is another reason as to why I have chosen to use it for my magazine.A code and convention that is used in POP music magazines for the article page is Arial font. This font is very often used in music magazines because it is easily accessible to editors and the audience can read it clearly. This code and convention will make the magazine fit with the genre more as I have already seen that it has been used in multiple POP music magazines.

Arial

COLOUR SCHEMEI have chosen to have my colour scheme for my magazine as a mix between grey scale and bright colours. I have chosen to have grey scale as my theme because it fits with the black and white images that I have taken to include in my magazine. Grey scale also looks modern which goes with the fonts and theme throughout my magazine. I chose to mix grey scale with bright colours because I wanted my magazine to draw attention, which bright colours will do especially when put next to greys. I chose bright colours because I wanted to create an energetic mood with the magazine, which bright colours are known to do. I chose the bright colours because when analysing the results of my questionnaire a lot of people said they would like bright colours on the magazine. I combined the two different colour schemes to create a modern and energetic feel and to make it sand out.

The typical colour scheme for music magazines, particularly POP music magazines, is neutral colours to appear to both genders of the target audience. I will use this convention for my magazine because it makes the magazine look more professional and by applying one of the conventions, the magazine appears to be more like a POP music magazine to the audience. Researching colour scheme of POP music magazines has allowed me to choose a colour scheme that fits with the genre well.

Codes and Conventions for colour scheme

MY PHOTOS FOR MY MAGAZINE

PHOTOSI chose to use these photos for my magazine because they are of high quality and fit with the POP genre. This style of photography is a convention of POP magazines and are used constantly. This style of photography is also used for album covers which links to the POP genre. The use of portrait shots that are at a close to medium shot are used for POP magazines because they show a lot of detail and the audience can see who the artist is clearly from a far. These images are simple but have a big impact which is why I chose to use them for my magazine. They look professional and because of the clothing the model is wearing, her positioning, her hair and make-up, and the position of the camera, these images fit perfectly with the conventions of a POP music magazine.