final pages

draft article

Draft article; One Step Closer

One Step Closer are a British alternative rock band that was formed in 2004, they didn’t really become a recognised rock band until 2008 when they released the debut album ‘take off the colours’. They had two of their songs from their first album appear in the U.K pop charts which weren’t a great success due to the fact that there a rock band. They were nominated for ‘best British band’ at the 2008, 2009, 2010 kerrang! Awards but failed to achieve it because of bullet for my valentine’, they eventually won it in 2011. The band was influenced by American bands such as blink 182. They released their second album ‘hold me down’ on January 11^th 2010 which reached number 5 in the u.k. album charts. On 15 December 2010, the band did an interview with “coupdemainmagazine” regarding to the progress of their upcoming third studio album. Frontman Josh stated that the band just did several demos for the record and that the songs would be of "heavier" than what the previous records Take Off Your Colours/Hold Me Down would be like. He also added on, "We’ve got songs that we’ve written that sound like they could be on a Coldplay or Snow Patrol album. And then we’ve got another song that sounds like it could be on a Parkway Drive record. It's really crazy if you were to ask me!". Their third album possibly the best is ‘sinners never sleep’ which features songs like ‘bite my tongue’ ft oli sykes was released on 3rd October 2011. This was their best album which reached 3rd in the u.k album charts. The gossip that ‘One Step Closer’ were going to do a collaboration with oli sykes the lead singer of ‘bring me the horizon’. The band announced in March 2012 that they had recorded a new song for The Swarm, a ride at Thorpe Park, which will be Europe's tallest winged roller-coaster. The song was released to iTunes on 18 March 2012 and is the world's first single for a roller coaster. In March 2012, the band announced that the third single off the album would be "No One Does It Better". The single would be released along with two additional tracks titled "Over Us" and "Retain" and be released as a single bundle through Virgin Records in April.

One Step Closer have announced via a small segment of November 2012 (out in October)'s issue of Rock Sound that they will be working with US big-name producer Dallas Austin and Norway big-name production team Stargate on a follow-up one-off single to their current single Reckless. The song will be different territory altogether for One Step Closer as the song will be electro-pop. The song will also be similar to the hit Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera song "Moves Like Jagger". Josh wrote on Twitter recently that the song came about when Dallas sent the band the demo of the beat to be used in the song. The song will be a collaboration with UK pop star Rita Ora. The song will be made for mainstream radio airplay, unlike their other singles. The song will see a release in August 2013, with radio and TV airplay starting in July 2013. This should hopefully make them a better known band in the u.k pop industry because before they weren't very successful due to the fact that they weren't releasing songs into the u.k pop charts.

One Step Closer band members:

Current

Josh Franceschi – lead vocals (since 2004)

Max Helyer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (since 2004)

Chris Miller – lead guitar (since 2004)

Matt Barnes – bass guitar (since 2004)

Dan Flint – drums, percussion (since 2007)

Touring Musicians

Luke Rendell - additional guitar, backing vocals

Former members

Joe Philips – drums, percussion (2004–2007)

proposal

Proposal

The product I will be making is an indie rock magazine; the target audience will be aged between 14-50 and also for people who like to listen to basically any indie rock. The purpose of my magazine will be to keep people up to date in the rock industry with all the recent information on bands, new releases, gigs and upcoming events.

The package will contain a front cover, contents page and a double page spread. The front cover will contain a main picture that takes up the whole page with the occasional plugs and puffs around the edge. There will a strap line at the bottom of the magazine and the main title will be at the top of the page also it will have the main strap line going across the middle of the picture which says the name of the band. The contents page will have page numbers saying what the magazine will contain and a couple of picture at the ends of the bullet point there will be the sub title at the top of the page which says ‘contents page’. The double page spread will have a picture that takes up the entire side of one page and the other side will be filled with an article about the specific band I've chose and maybe a couple of small pictures.

My magazine will look like the house style will be white, red and gold. the front cover will be a picture that goes straight across the page with a plug and puff as well  the main headline will be the name of the band that goes across the middle of the page. There will a strap line at the bottom of the magazine and the main title will be at the top of the page. The contents page will have page numbers saying what the magazine will contain and a couple of picture at the ends of the bullet point there will be the sub title at the top of the page which says ‘contents page’. The double page spread will have a picture that takes up the entire side of one page and the other side will be filled with an article about the specific band I've chose and maybe a couple of small pictures.

The equipment I will be using is a camera, tripod, computer with Photoshop and clothes. this is the basic equipment needed to make a magazine. 

My indie magazine will be produced by my own company called D.M productions and I will have a budget of £60,000 to produce this magazine. this should be enough money to cover all costs that i will have.

initial ideas

Initial ideas for my magazine

Front cover:
On my front cover there will be a picture of an alternative rock band that will fill the page. The picture on the front will link in with my double page spread, so that the magazine flows. The title will be at the top of the page with a possibility of slanting the writing and the logo at the top right or left. There will be a few plugs and puffs dotted around the page for added detail.

Contents page:

My contents page will have bullet points with what’s going to be inside my magazine, with little pictures to show little bits of detail. The bullet points will go down the left hand side of the page with the little pictures at the end of the bullet points.

Double page spread:

My double page spread will have a picture that will take up the whole side of one page and the other side will be filled full of writing.

production company name

research target audience

Alternative rock a genre of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s. The meaning was broader, referring to a generation of musicians unified by their collective debt to either the musical style, or simply the independent, D.I.Y. ethos of punk rock, which in the late 1970s laid the groundwork for alternative music. At times, "alternative" has been used as a catch-all description for music from underground rock artists that receives mainstream recognition, or for any music, whether rock or not, that is seen to be descended from punk rock. By the end of the 1980s magazines, college radio airplay, and word of mouth had increased the prominence and highlighted the diversity of alternative rock, helping to define a number of distinct styles such as Gothic rock, jangle pop, noise pop and industrial rock. But most alternative bands' commercial success was limited in comparison to other genres of rock and pop music at the time. With the breakthrough of Nirvana and the popularity of the grunge and Brit pop movements in the 1990s, alternative rock entered the musical mainstream and many alternative bands became commercially successful.

identify genre/target audience

Identify genre/target audience

My magazine will be based on the rock industry but more specifically the genre will be alternative rock. Alternative rock a genre of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s. The meaning was broader, referring to a generation of musicians unified by their collective debt to either the musical style, or simply the independent, D.I.Y. ethos of punk rock, which in the late 1970s laid the groundwork for alternative music. At times, "alternative" has been used as a catch-all description for music from underground rock artists that receives mainstream recognition, or for any music, whether rock or not, that is seen to be descended from punk rock. By the end of the 1980s magazines, college radio airplay, and word of mouth had increased the prominence and highlighted the diversity of alternative rock, helping to define a number of distinct styles such as Gothic rock, jangle pop, noise pop and industrial rock. But most alternative bands' commercial success was limited in comparison to other genres of rock and pop music at the time. With the breakthrough of Nirvana and the popularity of the grunge and Brit pop movements in the 1990s, alternative rock entered the musical mainstream and many alternative bands became commercially successful. The target audience for my magazine will be aged between 14-50 because this is the sort of age range when you listen to rock music and go and see them at concerts and like to read about them. 

questionaire results for my magazine

1. What house style do you expect an alternative rock magazine to have?

Dark x9

Natural x1

Bright x0

2. Would you expect them to use more images or text?

Images x 4

Equal x 6

3. Would they use people relevant to this magazine?

Yes x10

No x0

4. How much would you expect the magazine to cost?

£2-3 x6

£4-5 x 2

£1-2 x2

5. How often would you buy the magazine?

Monthly x7

Weekly x1

Never x2

6. how much would you be willing to pay?

£1-2 x2

£3-4 x6

£5-6 x2

mood board

research for alternative rock

native rock bands;

• Linkin park
• 30 seconds to mars
• The kooks
• My chemical romance
• Radiohead
• Two door cinema club
• Green day
• Muse
• Coldplay
• You me at six
• Arctic monkeys
• Biffy clyro
• Foo fighters
• The vaccines
• The fray
• Kasier chiefs
• Kings of leon
• The wombats
• Oasis
• Snow patrol
• The script
• Razorlight
• Paramore

Analysis:
Kerrang is a very busy sort of magazine with all of its imagery and writing that they use to entice the reader into buying there magazine. They have two tag lines one at the top and one at the bottom of the page which gives you an insight into what there is in the magazine. The main image is of the alternative rock band “YOU ME AT SIX” that’s sort of squished on to the top half of the magazine which has the main strapline going across their bodies. The main strapline firstly tells you who the band is (if you didn’t already know). At the bottom left of the page there is a picture with a sub title on it saying “free poster special” this is called a plug. These are design to make people buy the magazine and they tend to work because of the fact it says “free”. They also have another plug which has a picture of the lead singer in “disturbed” which gives the reader another indication as to what the magazine will contain. The house style of “kerrang” magazine is white and black which most people would associate with the genre of music that kerrang magazine talks about. The main image in the middle of the page and the main headline being at the top of the page. The title ‘YOU ME AT SIX’ writing is cerif because it’s pointy at the start and end of every letter which makes it stand out even more.


Kerrang! Is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper. Named after the onomatopoeic word that derives from the sound made when playing a power chord on an electric guitar, Kerrang! Was initially devoted to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and the rise of hard rock acts. In the early 2000s it became the best-selling British music newspaper.
Alternative rock a genre of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s. The meaning was broader, referring to a generation of musicians unified by their collective debt to either the musical style, or simply the independent, D.I.Y. ethos of punk rock, which in the late 1970s laid the groundwork for alternative music. At times, "alternative" has been used as a catch-all description for music from underground rock artists that receives mainstream recognition, or for any music, whether rock or not, that is seen to be descended from punk rock. By the end of the 1980s magazines, college radio airplay, and word of mouth had increased the prominence and highlighted the diversity of alternative rock, helping to define a number of distinct styles such as gothic rock, jangle pop, noise pop, C86 and industrial rock. But most alternative bands' commercial success was limited in comparison to other genres of rock and pop music at the time. With the breakthrough of Nirvana and the popularity of the grunge and Britpop movements in the 1990s, alternative rock entered the musical mainstream and many alternative bands became commercially successful.

On kerrang’s double page spread they tend to put an image on one page and then do all the writing on the other side. The main feature of this double page spread is the image of the rock band ‘all American rejects’ with little images around the main image. The house style tends to suit the band they are reviewing or just writing about. There is a puff at the top left which makes the article a little more attractive to the reader when they glimpse at ‘dirty little secrets’. I like the idea of having the main image in the middle of the double page spread and putting all of the writing around the image. I might incorporate this into my double page spread because I think there’s a good contrast between the amounts of writing to pictures.

The contents page on kerrang’s magazine always tends to be white, black and yellow with several pictures on the page with little quotations saying who/what they are and on which page there on. The biggest picture is obviously the main feature in that edition of the magazine. There are plugs down the right hand side of the magazine telling you what else there will be in the magazine. this is basically the main points of a contents page because what else does there need to be.

magazine distributers

Bauer:
Bauer media group is one of the leading magazine distributor's in Europe, USA and Asia. The Bauer family has managed the publishing company since 1876..Bauer Media Group publishes 46 magazines in Germany and is market leader in TV Guides. Bauer Media Group is also the leader in women's magazines e.g. BRAVO, the largest youth magazine in Europe dominates the youth magazine market in Germany. The 1990's saw H Bauer further strengthen its portfolio with the launch of TV Quick in 1991, that's life! in 1995 and TV Choice in 1999. At the beginning of 2008, Bauer expanded its portfolio further by acquiring Emap’s Radio and Consumer Magazine divisions and changed the name of these new UK businesses to Bauer Media.  Bauer is now the largest consumer magazine publishing company in the UK, playing a primary role in the Women’s Weeklies, Women’s Interest, Women’s Lifestyle, TV Listings, Puzzles, Men’s Lifestyle, Music and Film and Specialist magazine markets. They have a clear understanding of music magazines even though they don't publish many of there own.

IPC:
IPC have more than 60 iconic media brands. IPC Media is committed to working in partnership with its consumers, advertisers, business partners and employees to deliver exceptional value, service, innovation and creativity. There award winning portfolio of websites reaches over 25 million users globally every month. We have three publishing divisions IPC Connect, IPC Inspire and IPC Southbank. IPC Connect, there mass market for women includes Now, Chat and Woman, TV entertainment brands including What's on TV, TV Times and TV and Satellite Week and the good to know network. There men's includes, IPC Inspire, has a lot of leisure brands including Country Life, Horse and Hound, Rugby World and Decanter, as well as lifestyle brands including Nuts, Mouse breaker and NME. IPC South bank is our upmarket women's division and includes luxury fashion brands e.g. Marie Claire and In Style, lifestyle brands including woman and home and Essentials and home interest brands including Ideal Home and housetohome.

Future PLC:
Future PLC is an international media group, listed on the London Stock Exchange. it was founded in 1985 with one magazine, today they have operations in the UK, US and Australia creating over 200 specialist publications, apps, websites and events. They are the leading the market in there specialist areas i.e. Technology, Entertainment, Video Games, Sport and Music. They sell 2.2 million magazines every month, and export to 89 countries, making them the UK’s number one exporter and licensor of magazine content. They care about peoples interest and publish things on what people wnat them to do. At Future they base everything they do on communities of enthusiasts who are passionate about their interests. From computer games to film, from cycling to music-making, from photography to fast cars, we provide magazines, websites, multimedia content and events that inform, entertain and unite these communities.

front cover and contents page

front cover and double page spread analysis

Q magazine:

front cover:

the house style of q magazine is red, black and white which is because they use these three colours on every edition. the layout has a main image that takes up the majority of the front cover therefore making it the main focal point of the magazine.

the main feature of this specific magazine is the picture of Richard Ashcroft when he's posing in a position that makes him look sort of god like.
the target audience for this magazine would be largely based upon the people in the music industry also on which genre of music you like to listen to, on this edition it's probably going to be rock. this is the reason for why the magazine is based on the rock industry with the picture of Richard Ashcroft giving people a good indication that this magazine is going to be about the rock industry. the age range for this magazine is probably in the region of 14 to 60 year olds.

double page spread: 

the house style for this double page spread is the same as the front cover red, black and white which continues the fact that Q always use these three colours in every edition they make.

the main feature of this double page spread is the picture of Brandon flowers (the lead singer of the killers).

the text style is that theres lots of writing surronding the picture

Q magazine:

front cover:

the house style of q magazine is red, black and white which is because they use these three colours on every edition. the layout has a main image that takes up the majority of the front cover therefore making it the main focal point of the magazine.

the main feature of this specific magazine is the picture of Richard Ashcroft when he's posing in a position that makes him look sort of god like.
the target audience for this magazine would be largely based upon the people in the music industry also on which genre of music you like to listen to, on this edition it's probably going to be rock. this is the reason for why the magazine is based on the rock industry with the picture of Richard Ashcroft giving people a good indication that this magazine is going to be about the rock industry. the age range for this magazine is probably in the region of 14 to 60 year olds.

double page spread: 

the house style for this double page spread is the same as the front cover red, black and white which continues the fact that Q always use these three colours in every edition they make.

the main feature of this double page spread is the picture of Brandon flowers (the lead singer of the killers).

the text style is that there's lots of writing surrounding the picture which is associated with people that like to read rather than look at the pictures.

the target audience would be aimed at the more intelligent people because of the amount of writing and also at the older audience. the age range is probably 16-60 because it's still focused on the rock industry. 

exam board rewrite

Exam board ‘pressured to harshly change GCSE’s grade boundaries’

Ofqual pleaded to an exam board to change the grade boundaries, seen as they only changed the boundaries two weeks before the results were published. They’re letters to Edexcel expressing their concern about the rising number of C’s and asking the board to act quickly. The board responded days later saying the grade boundaries were fair and there was no justification for further changes. David Richards, a former head teacher and Ofqual board member; said “I think it’s a ridiculous that Ofqual think they can change exam boundaries two weeks before results day it’s outrageous to think that it’s easy to get a grade C in English. I was a head teacher for 14 years and I never thought at any moment that the English grade boundaries were too lenient”. Ofqual said that the letters were to just ensue that standards were maintained, and comparable with previous years. Meanwhile in Wales it’s emerged that students are set to receive higher English grades after the education minister after he demanded there papers to be remarked. Robert Collins said that it’s an “injustice” for welsh students after the row over students being awarded lower grades than expected. Ofqual’s director of standards wrote to Edexcel on the 7^th of august saying they needed to act quickly to make the grade boundaries higher than they might normally be required. Edexcel then replied two weeks before the GCSE results were published. They believe that there is no reason for people to change the grade boundaries because they think they are fair. Ofqual believe they should still higher the grade boundaries from 55 out of 96 to 65 out of 96. Ofqual replied on august 9^th with a letter saying that edexcel was obliged to ensure that it’s results were consistent with other awarding bodies.  

front cover and contents page evaluation

Front cover and contents page evaluation

For our research task of designing a front cover and contents page we had to research about what to put on them, we looked at the academy’s own magazine to see how basic they can be also we looked at double page spreads from all sorts of magazines from celebrity to sport. One of the most important things that we had to look at we the key concepts of a magazine for example plugs, puffs, straplines, house style and main cover lines. House style is the key to making a magazine because if there is a coloured theme throughout the magazine it helps the reader relate to what the magazine is about. We also got a sheet of paper with a picture of a front cover on and we had to label all the key concepts that were on that specific magazine.

We found that researching magazines helped us extend our knowledge on the key concepts of magazines therefore enabling us to create a better magazine front cover and contents page. This is because we looked at the Armthorpe Academy magazine and what concepts that it had for example house style, main cover lines. We realised that the academy’s magazine had a colour orientated theme which means it has a house style, also the magazine has a main image on the front of the magazine which takes up the entire page. The magazine also has ‘plugs’ which tell the reader what else is in the magazine and may draw their attention to something they might want to read in it. 

In my design for my front cover and contents page the researched influenced my design because I knew what made a good magazine and what made a bad magazine from the research of the key concepts of magazine.  Looking at the Armthorpe Academy’s magazine made me realise that to make a good magazine it doesn’t have to be extremely good as long as all of the key concepts work like the house style because it has a coloured theme throughout then it will appeal to more people and will draw the reader’s attention. Looking at other magazine front cover and contents pages influenced me because I could see what kinds of designs there are and what people like as the design of a magazine so that I know that people would like my front cover and contents page.

The change that has happened since I first design my front cover was the main image because when I enlarged it to fit the page it was all pixelated so I had to go and take another photo so that I could enlarge it without it looking pixelated. Also i had to change my house style because the colours didn’t work with the colour of the picture I put on my front cover. My contents page also needed a lot of change from when I first started it because the images weren’t the right size to fit on the page and I needed to change the colour so that it fitted with my house style.

Using Photoshop has enabled me to be able to make things such as front cover and contents pages that actually look like the real thing also it helps me to be able to create all sorts of things. 

Target audience is who the product is aimed at.
Genre is different types of categories e.g. horror, comedy.
Conventions are the key features of genres.
Codes(symbolic and technical) are a way of conveying meaning without using words.



the target audience for this type of magazine would be people (mostly men because there's not much writing on the front cover it's mostly pictures which is what most men like) aged between 17-60 and who are interested in cars. the mast head is in yellow which says 'top gear'. the main cover line is about new v8 supercars. there's also a few plugs to tell you little bits of extra information as to what's in the magazine. the main image is of three supercars.

Exam board ‘pressured to harshly change GCSE’s grade boundaries’

Ofqual pleaded to an exam board to change the grade boundaries, seen as they only changed the boundaries two weeks before the results were published. They’re letters to Edexcel expressing their concern about the rising number of C’s and asking the board to act quickly. The board responded days later saying the grade boundaries were fair and there was no justification for further changes. David Richards, a former head teacher and Ofqual board member; said “I think it’s a ridiculous that Ofqual think they can change exam boundaries two weeks before results day it’s outrageous to think that it’s easy to get a grade C in English. I was a head teacher for 14 years and I never thought at any moment that the English grade boundaries were too lenient”. Ofqual said that the letters were to just ensue that standards were maintained, and comparable with previous years. Meanwhile in Wales it’s emerged that students are set to receive higher English grades after the education minister after he demanded there papers to be remarked. Robert Collins said that it’s an “injustice” for welsh students after the row over students being awarded lower grades than expected. Ofqual’s director of standards wrote to Edexcel on the 7^th of august saying they needed to act quickly to make the grade boundaries higher than they might normally be required. Edexcel then replied two weeks before the GCSE results were published. They believe that there is no reason for people to change the grade boundaries because they think they are fair. Ofqual believe they should still higher the grade boundaries from 55 out of 96 to 65 out of 96. Ofqual replied on august 9^th with a letter saying that edexcel was obliged to ensure that it’s results were consistent with other awarding bodies.