FONT TYPE FOR MAGAZINE MASTHEAD

Now, after choosing the masthead, I must choose a font. The font is one of the key features within the masthead and the boldness and style of it need to suit the genre and attract new readers.

I have collected all my fonts from www.dafont.com

I used the mastheads for Kerrang! and Vive le Rock in order to compare them and analyse similarities that relate to the punk genre:

FONT 1 - 'i tell you all my secrets'

This first font seems to have clear correspondance with the 'Kerrang!' mast head. The fact that it is shattered, distorted and rather bold, connotes the idea that the genre is uncontrollable and raw. I like the overall look of the font but if I were to use this, I would only use it for the masthead as it is not bery clear and will not attract the reader to the other information on the front cover.

FONT 2 - 'Chinese Rocks'

I feel that this font is a strong contender for the mast head due to the fact that the square, bold letters are easy to read meaning that the magazine will have the ability to pull the gaze of the readers to the mast head. Despite being rather straight, if you look closely, the typeface is slightly distorted which subtly connotes the punk genre as explained in the font above. 

FONT 3 - 'American Captain'

This font is one of the boldest which means that it has the potential to be the most visible. I feel that the simplicity and style of this font makes it a clean and usable one. However, the style of the font does not connote the punk genre. A font like this in my opinion would be used in mainstream pop magazines.

FONT 4 - 'Old Press'

This font is rather similar to font 1 due to the distorted theme on the typeface. However, This font is wider and seemingly more bold. I feel that this font would be appropriately used as the mast head due to it's clear relations to the 'Kerrang!' masthead. However, due to the fact that the letters are almost 'eroded', it looses the effect of being bold and does not stand out as much compared to other fonts alike font 3.

FONT 5 - 'Deadliner'

This font is both distorted and bold. The subtle use of distortion in the letters evoke the idea of the punk genre whilst it is easy to read due to the bold font and reasonably sized letters. I feel that this font has all the characteristics of the fonts above combined which is why I will use this for the masthead.

So after all the planning, I can now move on to the production of the magazine. 

BEGINNING OF THE MAGAZINE

After completing my research, I decided that the best place to begin was determining my magazine name. To decide the masthead name, I feel that I should take influence from other punk magazines. A strong example is 'Kerrang!' Features of this name is that it is onomatopoeic and sounds like a strum of an electric guitar. This directly relates to the key characteristics of the genre encouraging the audience to feel immersed in the narrative as it conveys the beliefs and values of the genre. Another example is 'Big Cheese'. The title immediately stands out due to the fact that it is rather irregular and does not directly associate to the punk genre. However, deep connotations of the name explain that it could highlight the craziness and individuality of the punk genre that the audience would pick up on and internalise. From this secondary research, I have formed three names to choose from:

The Pick
A plectrum is what is used to strum the strings of a guitar with. A common alternative to plectrum however is 'Pick'. The audience will understand this as it has strong links to key ideas within the genre. 'The Pick' also is a double entendre. It could also mean that the content is the best as it is 'the pick of the bunch'. This makes the audience feel as if the content is professional and created by people that share similar ideologies.

Sound of Hysteria
Green day used this lyric in one of their most popular songs, 'American Idiot'. This means that there is a large possibility that the audience will recognise the song quote and feel more immersed in the magazine. 'Hysteria' also is used as it conveys the ideologies of the punk audience as they commonly are stereotyped as being crazy and detached from a mainstream life.

Punk Off
'Punk Off' is a pun for 'F*** Off', a commonly used curse word used in anger. This means that the mast head will be direct address which is important when it comes to attracting audiences. This play on words is a use of humour and due to the fact that it denotes foul language, can be seen as controversial. Controversy is a key belief in the genre of punk and the music was extremely bad mannered and controversial back when it became a genre. Due to this, I feel that this mast head is a strong contender for being chosen.

I feel that after analysing all the names, 'Punk Off' will be the masthead as it is short, powerful and conveys all the appropriate ideas of the punk genre

RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS - SECONDARY

After finishing my primary research, I decided to undergo some secondary research in to the punk genre. I decided to do this by using the internet.

From further research I found out that:

- Typical instruments in the genre are the electric guitar, bass and drums

- Controversial and modern when it first came out

- One of the most sub-genres in a genre

- Kerrang is the most popular punk magazine and even has a channel on TV

- It is stated that the typical american Punk wears a motorcycle jacket and jeans

- Was not until the mid 70's until it became a genre

- Typically fast paced music with three beats

- Not as common in the modern day youth

Now I have completed my research, I can finally move on to the production  of my magazine. From my research I have defined my target audience. The age group will be focused around 16-25 year old people with a psychometric rating of C-D. I also feel that I will center the narrative to represent the key beliefs of sucseeders and reformers as these were the two most popular results in my research. 

RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS - PRIMARY 2

PRIMARY RESEARCH - (Interview)
Another form of primary research is interviewing the audience. I decided to interview my friend Robert as his favourite genre of music is Punk and he has a good knowledge on the genre. I found that the information he provided me was extremely important and has the potential to have a great impact on my magazine.


J - How old are you?
R -16
Important information as he fits in to my target audience.

J - What would you class yourself?
R - Reformer
Interesting information as the punk genre is commonly depicted to be an audience of reformers as large artists use the punk genre to 'get at the government' and they sing about corruption and inequality. 

J - Three most popular punk artists/groups right now?
R - Anti-nowhere league, Exploited and GBH.
I can use these bands in my magazine as they have a greater ability to attract new readers due to their popularity.

J - Most well known punk group ever?
R - Sex Pistols
Information can be used due to the same reason above.

J - Best punk related prize under £1000?
R - Tickets to Rebellion Festival
He explained that the festival is the most popular Punk festival and most people that follow the genre know about it. Due to this, I could use it as a pull factor for the reader.

J - How would you stereotype a Punk fan?
R - Not mainstream, scruffy, chains, spikes however they are usually just normal people
This information helps me with planning my mise en scene and what costumes the models should wear

RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS - PRIMARY 1

I then began collating the data from my research. From analysing the results, I began to notice some issues that I will address in this blog.



PRIMARY RESEARCH - (Questionnaire)

What is your age?
Everyone that completed the questionnaire were either 16-25 years of age. I was going to focus the magazine on a target audience around this age. This means that the information from the questionnaire will be of great use to me.

Can you name three punk artists?
The minority of the people that filled in the questionnaire were able to name three punk artists. The majority could name one or two. These artists were mostly 'Green Day' and the 'Sex Pistols'. This explains to me that the genre of punk is not very popular in the youth generation. However, I will use the artists that they could name in my magazine so that I can appeal to the target audience as they know them.

How much would you pay for a music magazine?
Over half of the people picked £2-£3 so judging from this, I think that I will price the magazine around this area.

What would you class yourself?
It was difficult interpreting this data as the responses were rather mixed. Despite this, the clear winner was 'Sucseeders'. I feel that this result is due to the fact that young people usually have great expectations and are influenced by celebrities to become like them in a sense. Because of this result in the Psychographics section, I will model the narrative around the key beliefs and values of the audience.

What colours do you find effective?
Most of the audience chose black and white and red and gold. A few said they thought that yellow stood out as well. So I will mainly base my colour palette on these colours.

Which picture do you find most effective?
The majority chose the third option:


Because of this, I am greatly considering using a low angle of the band sitting down for my double page spread.

If there was a prize to be won, what prize would you like to win (under £1000)?
Because of the large amount of possibilities, I gained a wide array of answers. Examples were a DSLR, iPad, iPhone 7 and £1000 in cash. I am still undecided on what to choose but I feel that I will choose £1000 in cash as this is a gender neutral prize and the winner can spend the money on whatever they desire.

QUESTIONNAIRE LAYOUT

I then created my questionnaire, here is an example of what it looked like. I managed to receive about 30 responses from the questionnaire.

PROBLEMS WITH REASEARCH

Whilst creating my questionnaire, I encountered some problems. One problem is the whole ethnicity question. I was considering to include a question in my questionnaire about ethnicity but I decided against it as everyone available in my research were white British. Also, I feel that including one of these questions would just evoke a large amount of racial stereotypes. I then encountered problems when connecting the data together. All the people I asked to complete the questionnaire were of a similar age and position in education. This is a problem because it could mean that the information I collected might possibly be biased and the results may not comply with the ideas of another social group. Consequently, my media product will not convey all the ideologies of the punk audience and will instead, convey the ideologies of the people I interviewed. In order to change this, I could go and interview more people from different schools and social classes. Another problem is the majority of people interviewed do not have a large interest in the punk genre. I debated wether to include a question on Psychometrics but in the end, I decided against it as I felt that everyone I interviewed were of a similar social class and the difference between lowest social class and highest was small enough to ignore.

Because of this, I have decided to undergo more primary research and interview some people that have more of an interest in the Punk genre. This information will be more use than the questionnaire.