Gramaphone contents analysis 2

Double Page Spread Mock Up

Contents Page Mock Up

Front Cover Mock Up

Gramaphone contents analysis

Gramaphone double page spreads analysis

Gramaphone front cover analysis 2

After analysing this front cover (as well as the previous gramophone front cover I looked at) I realised that due to its unconventionality, I may not be able to draw much influence from this cover due to not only its unconventionality, but the complications involved in replicating its look when I come to create my final product. However I feel that it is still important to analyse this cover to serve as a contrast to the more conventional covers I have looked at, such as those of BBC Music, in order to broaden my understanding of the codes and conventions of classical magazines overall.

Gramaphone Front Cover analysis 1

BBC Music contents page analysis

BBC Music magazine fornt cover analysis 2

BBC Music double page spread analysis

BBC Music front cover analysis

Initial Font Ideas

When choosing fonts I  considered my target audience as well as my ideology (that being intelligent but approachable). Taking this into account, these are some of the initial fonts I found on DaFont.com and am considering using on the front page of my product.

Title Ideas

While initially thinking of names for my magazine, many Italian musical terms came to me, but after considering my target audience I thought it would be best to avoid the more obscure terms and stick to ones that most people would be familiar with. These were some of my initial ideas.

Symphony/Rhapsody/Melody- these were three of my first ideas as they are all fairly well known terms that you don't need to be a composer to know, yet are still directly linked to the classical genre. A symphony being an extended composition, a rhapsody being a composition that is divided into various episodes but flows freely, and a melody simply being a linear composition. The more I contemplated the less I liked all three of these titles, as while well-known they do still give of a little too much sophistication, to the point that I think it makes them sound intimidating (especially Symphony and Rhapsody) and on top of that, aside from Melody, they are a little long and I think a short, snappy title would be better. To top it off their meanings don't really hold any significance to my magazines ideology.

Muse- Muse was a name I briefly considered, and while it is snappy and approachable I find it to be a little vague as it could really describe any genre of music magazine. On top of that there are already 4 other magazines with this name.

Vivace- Vivace was a name I liked at first, it is an Italian music phrase meaning fast but lively. However considering I wanted a name that was recognisable and not intimidating I discontinued this line of thought.

Forte- Forte was a name I also liked initially due to the fact that while it is an Italian musical word, it is known by people who aren't particularly into classical music. On top of that its extremely short and easy to remember. My only quam with it as a title is that it didn't exactly translate into my magazines ideology, as all forte means is 'loud'.

Motif-At this point in time the name I like the most is Motif, for a lot of the same reasons I like forte. As it is very short, pithy and easy to remember, on top of that while it is an Italian music term it is used in almost every other art to describe a recurring theme in a piece of art. In classical music however it means a similar thing; a recurring figure in a piece that has an important characteristic and is meant to covey an idea in a condensed or quick way. In a way, this links to the ideology behind my magazine as it is about classical music, but in a more approachable way, it like a motif expresses big things (ideas or music) in a humble way. I would say this is most likely to be my final title.

Target Audience

My magazines target audience will be relatively young for a classical magazine. Specifically around mid 20's-30's or possibly even younger extending to late teens. They would enjoy both old and new classical music as my magazine will focus mainly on modern classical music. My target audience might also enjoy other genres of music like indie, rock or pop, therefor my magazine will assume that the reader is fairly familiar with other genres outside of the classical genre, for example; my magazine may make references to more modern bands or other modern things. Typically classical magazines are sophisticated in their design layout and ideology, and while my magazine would be somewhat similar using formal or fairly articulate language, I want to avoid it being intimidating to someone who enjoys classical music but maybe isn't initiated with all complicated classical terms. In a sentence, it will be intelligent, but approachable.

Magazine Terminology

Magazine key terms from rootntootn