Magazine Cover Mock Ups

These are the magazine cover mock ups I made. My favourite style is the second one, however I do really like the first one, though it looks more Grunge than anything, due to the colours used. I need to practice my cutting skills, particularly for the style of the second one, as the first does look well cut out and the second has jagged lines all around Frank.

Test Shots

Test shots for double page spread:

Test shots for magazine cover:

After taking these test shots, I decided that I really like the first two shown for the double page spread, so am considering either re-doing them or using them for my magazine. I wanted to use the room with the purple walls for the double page spread, but looking at the pictures I don't know if it looks too cluttered so I may have to make a set in a brighter, less cluttered room, but still with the same sort of style. If I use any of the ones shown for the double page spread I would have to cut around whoever is in the picture and change the background. I now have a rough idea of what I want for the final shots though.

Band Profile

Name: Lunacy Fringe
Members: Brooklyn (vocals), Quinn (bass), Gerard (guitar), Luna (drums.)
Age: 19-24
Gender: 2 female, 2 male.
Clothing: Rock/gothic rock style. Style inspiration is mostly Bam Margera and My Chemical Romance.
Lifestyle: Lunacy Fringe spend their spare spare time listening to music, band practice, having fun, reading, writing, painting and drawing, watching films when they can and reading comics. They all like to design things for their fans.
Musical inspiration: My Chemical Romance, The Used, 30 Seconds To Mars, HIM, Green Day, Nirvana, The Ramones, Sex Pistols.
Genre of music: Rock/alternative.
History: Their previous album, "Methane Skies", was astonishingly successful, being nominated a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 2008. The band later on disappeared until late 2010, due to their vocalist, Brooklyn, being hospitalized.
Appeal: Raw, original sound, inspiring lyrics. Appeals to those who like alternative, almost gothic rock.

Chosen Band and Album Name

I have been pondering the band names "Lunacy Fringe" and "Secret Chords." I have decided to call the band "Lunacy Fringe" as I think it suits the genre more and the meaning is less obvious. I think that it's creative and would be more appealing to people who are interested in the rock and alternative genre. "Secret Chords" is less like a band name and more like part of a lyric, which is where the idea was from. I think that the idea of "Secret Chords" is still a creative name though, so I may use it for one of the other bands.
Now that I have decided on the band name, it has been easier to choose the album name. The ideas were "Is Living Just a Joke?", "Strike a Violent Pose" and "Try Is a Set Up Word for Failure." I am going to go with "Strike a Violent Pose" because it is catchy and appealing, and I think that the line itself could be telling people to not be afraid to be themselves; show your rebellious side and don't be ashamed. I strongly support the idea of people not doing what is expected of them unless it's what they want to do, so I think it portrays that well.

Further Magazine Title Ideas

I am contemplating the title of either "Delve" with a rider underneath, or "Escape." I particularly like the idea of "Escape", though it wasn't one of my original ideas, I like what it would stand for as music is indeed a form of escapism. I think it's clear the word "Escape" would mean escape to the music, but not blindingly obvious, therefore I think it's a smart idea.
If I was to choose "Delve", I would want the rider that would go underneath to be linked to the idea of exploring/unearthing your true self through the music, not necessarily unearthing the music itself.

Planning the Double Page Spread

I have decided that the double page spread will not be about a new band with an album about to be released, but a band getting back up again after a tough time.
The cover 'model' will be the singer only from the band, to show that the double page spread will be focused on what happened to her.
It will be an interview with the singer, mostly about what happened to her, why, and what saved her.
I will take photos of who would be in the rest of the band and include them in the double page spread. This will show unity of the band and how they didn't give up on her.
I am hoping to achieve a dark atmosphere in this double page spread, but with a layer of light, as in the end all was well- or so it will seem.

Artistic Elements

I want my music magazine to have elements of art in it, thus combining two of my four main passions and interests. I enjoy any art, not a particular artist. I seem to love the art of freelance artists. One of my favourite artists is Alex Pardee, who is the artist for The Used as well as being an incredible freelance artist in general.

The art inspiration for my magazine wouldn't necessarily only be big, well-known artists. For example, Gerard Way's art inspires me.

The above picture is the album artwork for the My Chemical Romance "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge" album that Gerard drew himself. 

Pitch Feedback

I think that my pitch went rather well as I made it clear to the audience what my magazine would be like. I made the genre of my magazine clear, but the questions I got asked were mostly related to my audience. For example, I was asked if I would attempt to bring in a wider range of people; I would not. I want my magazine to be aimed at people who like a certain genre of music and style, even though this will result in limiting the market slightly. Another reason for my magazine being aimed at a specific audience is because I don't like how magazines such as Q have mixed genres, trying to bring in a wider range of audience; I don't think it's particularly effective and some people want to just read about the sort of music they enjoy. Another question I got asked was about the style, as in my Animoto presentation I did state that the style inspiration would be Bam Margera, but I had to say how I would make it 'suited' to the cover artist who would be female.
I want my magazine to look artistic in an Alex Pardee way, so am contemplating drawing or painting something, taking a picture of it and then putting my main image over it, but I don't want it to be overly clustered.

25 Word Pitch

I admire everything about Bam, but I think I've made it clear that he is on there due to inspiration for style mostly.

Magazine Title (Ideas)

I tried to come up with titles which are not seemingly simple, but are not too complicated for a magazine title. I needed to make sure that it would still be suitable, not too long to say/read, but still eye-catching.
I thought of these:

• Hurricane
• Vox Populi (voice of the people)
• Zeus
• Fawkes
• Delve
• Minority

I wanted them to have underlying meaning, but not have to over-think them. I think my favourite ones are Delve, Minority, Hurricane and Vox Populi, so I will probably just choose out of the four.

Ideas for the Band and Album Name.

After much thought, I have decided that it would be good for the chosen band name to be either:

• Secret Chords
  or
• Lunacy Fringe

Both of these names I think would be very appropriate for the genre, and also they both can be widely interpreted. They are not too simple and have obvious meaning to them.

The ideas for the album name are:

• Is Living Just a Joke?
• Strike a Violent Pose
  and
• Try Is a Set Up Word for Failure.

The idea for "Is Living Just a Joke?" came from the My Chemical Romance song, "Dead!" The lyric in the song is actually "If life ain't just a joke, then why am I dead?"
The idea for "Strike a Violent Pose" also came from a My Chemical Romance song called "Teenagers." The whole lyric is "So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose, maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me."
"Try is a set up word for failure" is a Bam Margera quote, clearly the most optimistic of the ideas.

Audience Profile

Name: Luna
Age: 20
From: Brighton
Aspiration: to make a change in the world in some way. Very involved in volunteer work and helping the environment.
Inspiration: music, art, literature, gigs and film.
Music taste: Her favourite band is The Used, but she also loves bands such as HIM, My Chemical Romance, CKY and Nirvana.
Preferred genre: alternative rock, but also likes punk and metal.
Dislikes: Racism, homophobia, bullies, ignorance.
Plan for near future: to go Africa to do volunteer work. This is after she has finished studying music at university, where she is now; music is a big part of her life.
Luna believes in being yourself and is a very creative, taking pride in her individuality. Music has been a very large factor in making her become this person. She cares not of other people's opinion and lives by the Bam Margera quote, "Try is a set up word for failure."

Colour Scheme Ideas

For my colour scheme, I have tried to avoid the more common black, white and red. I have decided instead that I will chose between the following two colour schemes:

These both would fit the genre of alternative rock in the magazine, and also be mysterious and edgy. A connotation of purple is spirituality, but by using a dark purple, this should cool down the eye-catching black and white and seem more powerful. By using black, a connotations could be rebellion and mystery, which could also relate to the style inspired by Bam. The second option would make the magazine look more simple, but darker. The grey could contribute to a neutral element.

Inspiration for Style.

I have chosen that the style of the cover "model", who will potentially be the lead singer in my magazine's made-up band, will be inspired by Bam Margera, who is one of my idols. Bam's style is that of a sort of gothic rock; this is more accessible and is more appropriate for the content that the magazine would have.

Potential Bands to Inspire My Magazine

Below is a list of bands I would want my magazine to include. A problem I face though, is choosing which bands, as there are different genres, due to the fact I like a lot of different music, from different times. I also like artists such as Metallica and Black Sabbath, but I'm trying to narrow the genres down.


30 Seconds To Mars        You Me At Six                 My Chemical Romance
Sex Pistols                      Nirvana                   HIM
Green Day                       The Used                Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Cure                         CKY                       Silverstein
The Smiths                      The Ramones           Bob Dylan
Jimi Hendrix                     Jeff Buckley             The Clash  
The Jam                          Pink Floyd               Guns N' Roses
The White Stripes             The Stranglers         Adam and the Ants
System of a Down             The Beatles             A Day To Remember

Inspiration for Style of Magazine

The style of my potential magazine will be mostly inspired by musicians, not just other magazines.

Therefore, the style of the actual person/people on the cover will be mostly inspired by the legend Kurt Cobain- and Nirvana in general. One of the many beautiful things about Kurt Cobain is that he literally did not care what he wore or what he looked like. He still, however, managed to pull off any piece of clothing at all-even pyjamas- and looked Godly. One of the reasons why I hope to achieve this particular style for the cover 'model' is because I don't want the assential first impression to be that it's fake, or looks-based. Of course, the magazine would not be fashion-based, it would dedicated to the music entirely; the cover will hopefully achieve putting across this point. Thus, little effort, still resulting in a magical style.

The other person the style will be partially based on is the Punk legend, Sid Vicious. Like Kurt Cobain, he did not care what he looked like, and most people believed him to look a complete mess as well as act like one. I, however, loved Sex Pistols style and admire the carelessness which somehow resulted in a much adored style which inspired Punk-lovers everywhere in the 70's.

A slight problem would be that Grunge and Punk are really quite different styles; if it's an impossibility to successfully achieve both of these styles mixed together, then the cover model will most likely be dressed more Grunge than Punk.