Formal Proposal Rock Music Magazine

Title of the proposed magazine: AMPED!

Why did I choose the rock genre?
Primarily I like the rock genre and enjoy the music associated with it. The rock
genre has a very loyal and wide fan base. The age range is almost unlimited, as
children anywhere up to pensioners can sit and enjoy rock with their family and
friends. There is also not ethnicity or disability discrimination providing a
welcoming approach to newcomers. The main reason I wanted to focus on the
rock genre was because a large concentration of the fans are teenagers and
younger adults. The reason why this is important is the fact that they would use
social media and such to tell their friends about a new magazine in the way they
would tell their friends about a new song. Rock also has a more stereotypical
colour scheme which is somewhat easy to follow and is recognisable as red,
black and white and instantly connotes to a reader, without reading a thing, that
a rock magazine is a rock magazine.
Target audience
Name: Claire
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: British (UK/Irish)
Lifestyle: Has a part time job to support spending on beauty products, clothes,
music and magazines. Has some disposable income but is not well off. Sociable
person so has a large friendship circle of people of different genders and
ethnicities and likes to share items of interest on social media and around chats
such as WhatsApp. Listens to rock music and goes to concerts to support her
favourite bands and socialise with other fans. She also likes to socially drink on a
regular basis.
Initial Ideas
Front Page: For the masthead I would like to make it a vibrant red, however not
the usual blood red, rather a gradient of some kind to connote a bit of diversity
and would use a black or white stroke to separate the text from the main image.
I would also need to use a visually eye catching and sharp font to attract the
audience, rather than the masthead having a boring flat, smooth font, as it
connotes the more stereotypically violent nature of rock. For the main image I
would like to use a green screen to create the effect of the model being in a
concert, bar or pub as my mass target audience would likely reside in a social
environment such as this and would be able to associate with the magazine

because of this. I would preferably like to capture a long shot of the model so
that they can be seen fully, but can therefore be cut in to other shots such as a
medium shot if need be. Overall, I want the cover to have a disorganised and
chaotic style to it in contrast to something like a beauty magazine, as it will allow
each element to pop out at the audience rather than being formatted and boring,
whilst also continuing the stereotyping of rock as chaotic and somewhat violent.
Contents Page:
I have considered the contents page a little less than the front cover, but
nevertheless have some ideas concerning it. As with any magazine, I would like
to include the masthead/ branding at the of the page to provide a sense of
continuity, underneath which I would like to include the heading of Contents in
a calmer sans serif font than the masthead to provide come visual contrast. Also
in contrast to the cover, I would like to organise the contents page in a more
columned fashion to make articles easier to find and easier to anchor to page
numbers. To break up the columns I will use a variety of original images of bands
and artist features in the magazine, also providing a brief summary of their
articles. By doing this, it gives the audience a glimpse of what is inside the
magazine without giving too much away.
Double Page Spread:
For the two page spread I plan to take a variety of medium to close up shots of
the model involved in the article and create a collage background and Photoshop
it on to a wall. By doing this, it will provide a sense of personality from the model
and connote a sense of fun and humanity to the audience. To subvert
convention, I plan to get a medium shot of the model standing, looking towards
the wall and away from the audience, connoting a mood of reflection and calm
and contrasting the other elements on the page. I also plan to use a scattered,
limited amount of heading text in varying font, colour and size to connote a
sense of diversity and chaos, whilst also keeping it contained in the central area
so that it keeps in tune with the rule of thirds. I will still keep in mind the
conventions of a rock magazines article and provide the article itself in a more
plain, black, times new roman style serif font and will likely put it in a coloured
box to separate it from the rest of the page.
Photography:
Photography-wise I plan to take more images than I need so that the best ones
can be chosen and use. I will likely use a variety of different models of varying
gender and ethnicity to use as solo artists or as bands. This will continue the
sense of diversity that rock resonates strongly. In terms of location, I have yet to
decide, other than pubs or bars, where I should collect some backgrounds and
source material to work from. The main images I have planned are the shot of a
blank wall, the green screen shot of a model standing, completely turned away
from the camera and a long shot of the same model (as they will be included on
the cover). I might use a shot of a (staged) social gathering to connote
community, as well as somebody on their phone to advertise the social media
links. Finally, an editorial shot (close up of me) will need to be taken as it is

customary for the editor to provide an image of themselves in the editorial in the
case that I decide to include one.