pitch your ideas and evaluate the response LO3: U21 (P4, M3, D1)

Feedback:

The first piece of feedback that I received was on the band I was focusing on "Big Thief". I was told this was a good example of how bands use social media to spread their message. This is a good piece of advice because it demonstrated that my magazine was in line with the brief regarding new and upcoming music. In the brief, it states that the magazine should be focused on a "vibrant music scene developing locally". The brief also states that the magazine should be online and print-based. Therefore, by having a focus on social media, I feel like I am relating to my target demographic, because they will be likely to find the content interesting, and also use devices such as black boxes to access the magazine. This means the online aspect of the magazine should prove successful.

The client also liked that I had identified a magazine from the US as an inspiration for my magazine. This was reassuring, as it means the codes and conventions I'm using for the magazine, based on the indie genre, should be recognisable to my consumers. 

The client then turned to my design for the front cover. Whilst she appreciated that I was trying to be modern and different, she was also concerned that there was a lot of "dead space". She pointed out that almost half of the cover is scenery, with the lower half mainly grass. She was especially concerned that this would not work for a first issue. She felt that I might need a tagline, or that the bottom space needs to have more on offer in it, such as cover lines, strap lines etc. This would direct the readers to buy the magazine. The suggestion was that I could try to be more experimental once the brand was established. Whilst I know what I was trying to achieve with this cover, I will take on board this feedback and add more to the front cover in order to make my cover in line with the conventions of a traditional magazine front cover. There has to be a balance struck between being informative and not looking too cluttered. My design was too much toward one way and it needs to be much more busy to showcase what it really is to potential new customers. As a new magazine, this would actually catch the eye of more customers than that of the more minimalistic design which I had previously thought would look better. Other magazines such as Empire can get away with this style every now and again because they already have a huge following that trust their content already so they don't need to prove themselves with a super busy and informative front cover all the time and can opt for the stylish look of a more minimalistic design. A good point that I took away from this criticism was to be much more explicit than implicit in what the magazine will be about when looking at the front cover. For a first ever issue this makes perfect sense because the title alone would not yet be a recognisable brand. When designing a new front cover I will make sure to utilise much more space for advertising content and different articles to go alongside the main image. by using interesting fonts and colours this should make a this first issue much more appealing and saleable to potential new buyers.

The next piece of advice I was given was not to pay to much attention to colour theory. This was in relation to my mood board. I was told that when applying colour theory to such a broad subject like a music, it becomes much less valid and I should not limit myself to only a few specific colours. Instead, the client suggested that the colours should complement the codes and conventions of the indie rock genre. I feel like this was a good piece of advice because it would help me to identify a strong sense of branding within my genre. So, rather then focusing on the connotations of colour, I should try to establish the codes and conventions of colour associated with indie. I agree with this criticism as it gives me more creative freedom when designing a new, and busier looking front cover to appeal to more people, and also when designing my double page spread. However, I believe I can still utilise those three main colours as my main colours in my magazine, but I just shouldn't limit myself to only a few select colours when designing, as I might identify something which works well or maybe better.

The final piece of feedback I was given related to the use of models, to model guitars related to the genre. The client felt that this was rather a "niche" idea and perhaps not necessary for a magazine of this type. I answered this by saying that a model would be useful for posing with guitars and other instruments for images to be used in the magazine. However, on reflection, I feel this was good piece of advice and I would be taking it on board for my final magazine. I will use band members themselves to promote indie music rather than models. This will help to brand the magazine in line with the indie genre. 

The client didn't seem to take any issue with the research I carried out and my justifications for may decisions such as target audience, purpose and content. This is because my magazine manages to meet the brief by showcasing that I want to promote mainly up and coming local independent bands within north London which is an appropriate subject for a new and very localised music magazine that the brief demands. this gives me quite a bit of creative freedom when creating my final magazine front cover and double page spread as long as I can justify all creative decisions against the brief.