Main Task: Masthead Ideas - Names, Primary Research, Masthead Fonts and Fonts

Prior to planning my magazine, I decided on some names for the title of my magazine.
My ideas include:

• Icon - As artists and bands can be considered icons in the industry, I have adapted the idea so that the magazine can be seen as an icon for magazines. This gives a sense of importance and dominance against competitors.
• Gem - Gems are seen as precious, treasurable and valuable linking to the image of the magazine.
• Air - Air was taken from the idea of artists and bands music when it is first played, 'on-air'. This could also imply that it is live music also when on radio stations or on tour etc.

As had multiple choices, I carried out a survey to see which name would suit my genre of 'Pop/Rock'. I asked my peers which name they preferred and these are the results.

The results show clearly that 'Icon' was favoured, leading with 11 votes out of 20. When asked, the majority said that 'Icon' linked directly with the theme of 'Pop/Rock' as music can be seen as iconic, therefore this name was most suitable.



Following my initial research of names, I then started to search for suitable fonts for my magazine. The three fonts that I preferred generate different ideas for possible media products, offering different colour schemes, target audiences and the whole image of the magazine itself.

 



 This was one of the first fonts that I found, and liked, due to its simplicity. On the other hand, the use of serifs suggest a sense of sophistication and expensive, whilst still looking fairly modern thus suggesting that the target audience would be older (20+) with a higher income. In addition, for this font, I would use a simple colour scheme of black, white, grey as they are monotone, simple and compliment each other, with elements of burgundy, adding a contrast to the other colours.

 

This was another option for the potential font for my magazine masthead. In addition to being eye-catching, due to the texture of the font, this font would make the magazine recognisable, offering memorable aesthetics. Whilst looking easy-going and informal, due to the san serif style of letters, the appearance of the magazine would appeal to a wider audience i.e. teenagers etc. due to the idea of it being a fun, 'pop' magazine, and less expensive. The colour scheme used with this font would again be simple, using black white and blue.

This font was inspired by the theme of 'Hollywood', linking to the idea of being highly influential on the US music industry. I like this font because again it is informal, fun and aesthetically appealing which would be recognisable when sold. Additionally, the font suggests informality yet modernism and sophistication but readers may get the impression that the magazine focuses on American pop music rather than the British industry as well. If this font were to be used I would use black, white and the 3 primary colours as they are simple, basic and easy to read. Furthermore they are also fun, and included in different cultures around the world, therefore not biased towards just one.

 Similar to when choosing a name for my magazine, I carried out research in order to see which font my peers preffered and from the results it can be depicted that Font 1 was the most popular. The people asked said that although that font 2 represented the younger generation, font 1 was more appropriate because it was more 'sophisticated' and 'looked more proffesional'. Therefore my target audience and house style for my media product was determined by this research, On the other hand, when asked, individuals said that font 3 looked too similar to the 'Odeon' font style suggesting that the media product could be associated with the 'Odeon' cinemas, therefore the masthead would not be fit for purpose.