establishing/background shots

These shots were not on my shot list but background shots that I though I could use

Double page shots

I took many shots of the same scene experimenting so i would be able to choose the best later on.

Contents page shots

I took the same shot with varying models manga books and scenes so I could choose and gain opinions on which is best.

cover page shots

I found it difficult to vary this shot but took muliple images with slight changes.

practice shots / potential shots

Here I simply refreshed my DSLR camera skill by taking a variety of shots for practise before bringing in my model and being unprepared. I experimented with different lights and focus.

magazine name

After much consideration I have decided on the name 'Yinyue' for my magazine title as shown in my cover flat plans. I will place the Chinese characters next to the phonetic main spelling as I have noted this is a convention in half Chinese and half English magazine.

音乐 (yin yue) means music pronounced 'yin-you' I kept it simple to minimise confusion in translation and also because POP music is so broad
I have drawn a mock up logo to show how I want it to be stylised so the Y's are mainly what you see as shown here or something similar.

scamps

 

I have created these shot lists so I could gain an idea of the photos I need to take, how I will take them and where they could go

flat plan ideas for double page spread

Here I have two examples of ideal shots and their positioning on a double page spread, my main idea is to have two shots of equal size almost cloning the featured artists whilst one shot is aesthetically pleasing the second gives an insight into the artists personality

flat plan idea for contntes page

I wanted to design a contents page which is clear and easy to look at the Chinese characters for the name are the main title on this page as by now it is linked to the cover page's title also the numbering is in Chinese but the layout is basic so that it is obvious the order the contents come in even if you do not know Chinese numbers

flat plan ideas for magazine cover

 

The idea of this cover shot is that it draws attention to the featured artist and prioritizes them over writing which is something my survey results said participants pick up magazines for the most

 

 This is my only cover shot idea which does not have a close up of my artist this is because I also wanted to show the artist interacting with a guitar and show its importance to her

 

 

This cover shot although a close up does not priorities the artist as much as the others as only half of her face is shown and the focus is on the design behind her this makes the cover aesthetically pleasing 

typical reader profile

Christiana is 15 and she is studying mandarin Chinese for her GCSE’s. She is a big fan of pop music in the UK but also orders the latest music from Korea by her favourite band BIGBANG. Most of the time she watches the most popular Taiwanese dramas; with subtitles alongside her friends. Cristiana goes to karate class on Saturday mornings and also wants to learn how to skateboard. She has a kitten and loves all things cute. When she gets the time she likes to sketch; particularly anime. At her local comic book store she likes to browse through the manga books sometimes picking up a volume of Fruits Basket but she finds the whole collection quite expensive to buy. She is always talking about the latest in the k-pop charts with her friends over QQ messenger but still finds it difficult to find out new information on the far eastern subjects she enjoys so she would love to travel to Taiwan or Seoul.

title analysis

 

 

We love pop is stylised as ‘we [heart] pop’ which is commonly used amongst teenage girls, this immediately aims at their typical reader. By using the word ‘we’ as the pop lovers makes the reader who also loves pop feel part of a community. The use of ‘pop’ clearly highlights

I noticed NME magazine sounds like ‘enemy’ this connotes an assertive nature. Also this links with the harsh colour of the title and brash bold font

아스타 TV (Aseuta TV) is stylised for English as ASTA TV; this could be to reach a broader market or connote a transnational business. 아스타(Aseuta) roughly translates to ‘oh star’ from Korean and this links to the star shaped logo also ASTA sounds similar. The magazines relation to star could represent the magazines trend to feature music ‘stars’

Painkiller magazine is a Chinese heavy music magazine; the title connotes this with harsh words such as ‘pain’ and ‘kill’. Painkillers Chinese name is重型音乐 (Zhòngxíng yīnyuè) which literally translates as ‘heavy duty music’, this keeps it simple for both Chinese and English readers as sometimes by making up a name means the title is untranslatable

咪咕 ME (mī gu) translates to ‘microphone cushions’ this is a quirky way of linking the magazine to music it is also short and snappy, the Chinese characters are basic too.

language analysis

I have been looking at language techniques in magazines these could include;

problem / solution

format

rhyme

alliteration

assonance

language of excess

puns

intellectuality

slang

contractions

I intend to use these language techniques in my music magazine in order to attract my target audience for example less formal language such as slang would keep a young audience engaged in my magazine.

questionnaire results: 10

I included this question to find out if my participants liked any J-Pop influences without knowing it. By seeing the high percentage of participants who do like the J-Pop influenced style I can tell the magazine may create new fans of oriental pop and I will take these potential readers into consideration.

questionnaire results: 9

Despite my magazine genre having a very niche market in the UK my questionnaire results showed over a quarter of my participants knew or had heard of some far eastern pop music.

This makes me feel that persuing this genre will be a succuessful idea.

questionnaire results: 8

Question 8 gave me qualitative results in the form of magazine names such as; OK, shout, vogue, TV times, sugar, SFX, chat, fabulous, pick it up, closer, melody maker and vibe. with this information I will analyse some of these magazines and see why they appeal to my target audience.

questionnaire results: 7

I asked my participants this question in order to find out the most popular and attractive conventions of magazines. My findings will help me make my magazine more familiar and aesthetically pleasing and eye catching to my target audience.

questionnaire results: 6

questionnaire results: 5

I found that pop music is most popular as I assumed when deciding my genre to be oriental pop but with also very high results in other genres I could incorporate other genres of Chinese music too.

questionnaire results: 4

To start off with i wanted to find out how many of my participants actually listen to music on a regular basis and most did. My combining British aspects of pop into my magazine I can make it more musically universal as a British magazine about Chinese music.

questionnaire results: 3

My questionnaire found the most popular type of magazine amongst my participants were celebrity gossip. This is positive as I will incorporate celebrities in the music industry such as artists and I now know i need to make my exclusive double page spread interview also gossipy and give a real insight into the featured artist's life.

reasearch questionnaire results

As shown in my pie chart I questioned mainly 16 - 20 year olds and most participants were also female, this is because when researching my music genre of far eastern pop I noticed it tended to appeal more to young girls. By using this information I have gained I will be able to focus on a typical reader which is representative of my target audience whilst also making my magazine recognisable to my genre.

survey on magazines

what is K-Pop?

This Wordle shows me that Korean pop music is seen as the younger C-pop but is fast growing due to itspopularity in america due to K-pop videos spreading on Youtube and Facebook.

what is J-Pop?

This Wordle tells me more of the history of J-POP such as its influences from the beatles but also how this was ralpaced by the modern J-POP we see now. 

what is C-Pop and Mandopop?

This Wordle shows what makes China's pop music sung in Cantonese (C-pop) and Mandarin (Mando-pop) the Wordle identisies Taiwan and Singapor as the genres main exports.

oriental pop music wordle

Using detailed information on oriental POP music this Wordle identifies the key factors which make up far eastern popular music.

Sparkling a korean pop magazine

Sparkling: Life in K-Pop Color is a Philippine magazine dedicated to all things K-Pop. Sparkling is a K-Pop entertainment and lifestyle magazine published by Summit Media, who are the leading magazine publishers in the Philippines. It features K-Pop's most popular artists and celebrities as well as articles on fashion, and beauty.

will.i.am, Nicki Minaj - Check It Out

This music viedo by Nicki Minaj and Will.i.am is their tribute to J-Pop
it features hangeul (Korean writing) and the inroduction is spoken in Korean.
The artists are dressed as anime and manga ( Japanese animation and comic book ) characters would.

far eastern pop influences on western pop

Although this type of music will have more of a niche market in the UK oriental pop has an increasing fan base in London and USA with major artists such as Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry sporting Japanese pop music fashion such as Harajuku

Katy Perry (image 1) shown in traditional Japanese dress and Nicky Minaj (image 2) in Harajuku style both sporting the anime and J-Pop hairstyles