Idea For Headline

I'm not certain on whether the language used in this image would be allowed in my magazine so I may have to use some alternative- such as using stars to replace the letters. I would also change the colours and the layout of the text. However, I think this is a good idea for a headline because he has lots of relevance to original punk music and of course, The Sex Pistols!

Draft Article

Punk music has been with us for a very long time, having its most success in the 1970’s and 80’s. Many thought this genre would come to an end when the likes of hugely inspirational bands such as The Clash decided to call it a day in 1986, or The Sex Pistols decided to end their reign in 1978 after vocalist Johnny Rotten decided to depart from the band. However in contrast to these beliefs, I’d like to introduce you to a brand new band set for big things in 2011 and are aiming to revive the punk revolution; please welcome highly opinionated and career set youngsters Emily, Harvey, Sam and Jack forming The Pan!c…

First things first let me know your roots- when, where and why did you form?
Emily: Well we all grew up together in the same area in London but never knew each other properly until our final year of A Levels. We were introduced to each other because we were all studying music at our local college and instantly clicked.
Jack: We originally began just messing around in music lessons trying to create a good sound and eventually decided to form a band. Since then we’ve gone on playing music together, whether that being just to families and friends or in small venues.
Sam: And now we’ve got our big break!

How did your big break come together then Sam?Sam: Well due to Harvey having some relations in Camden we managed to get a slot at 2010’s Camden Crawl. By some miracle Radio 1 DJ Mike Davies who has his own punk show on the station was there watching us, and he really enjoyed our performance. He gave us a fair amount of air play which then progressed to our debut single ‘Art is a Collaboration’ being played on more regular shows. So that’s what got us noticed really. We owe so much to Mike!

So are you into the music that’s played at Camden Crawl, or do you prefer other?Jack: We’re very open to new or old music and are willing to try out any genre but obviously our favourite is the classic punk sound.
Emily: That’s very true, I mean it’s where our sound originates from.

You’re obviously huge punk fans then! Where did this passion emerge from?Emily: Both my mum and dad were punks during the Joe Strummer days and kept all the records till this day, now I have them (laughs).
Harvey: We are all hugely influenced by the genre; that includes the clothing, way of life and music. I’d have to say The Clash are my all time favourite band, with White Riot being one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Some of the s**t around today just doesn’t compare!

On that note, would you compare yourself to any other bands in the industry today?Sam: I want to say no and that we’re unique but I don’t want to lower myself to those on the scene now that brag about being “individual and alternative”. That’s no proper way to describe your sound. We pride ourselves on trying to revive punk, not making our bands sound just like everyone else!
Emily: The industry is very diverse at the moment, with all sorts of genres striving for success in the charts. However, I believe The Pan!c consists of a different sound to the majority that is available to listen to now. We were recently introduced to new band The Vaccines who are destined to do well this year. They claimed that their influences included The Cure and The Clash so we immediately clicked! From what I’ve heard of their stuff they’re really good, so I hope we can have as much success as they do.

From that I’m very excited to listen to more of your stuff. What have you got planned for this year?Jack: We have quite a lot coming up this year- 2011 and going to be a busy one for us! First stop is releasing and promoting the album. It’s our debut album and it’s called ‘Part of Being Sane’. It’s taken a pretty long time to write but definitely worth the wait because we are so very proud of it! After that’s been released we’ve got quite a few tour dates lined up; we’ll be performing up and down the UK. This will be the perfect opportunity for our new fans to see exactly what we’re like. Then after that we’ll hopefully be making an appearance at several festivals here and one across the pond which I cannot contain my excitement for! (Fellow members look away in embarrassment)

A debut album? Tell me more!Harvey: Well as Jack just said, it’s called ‘Part of Being Sane’. Seeing as though it’s our first album the name should probably have some sentimental feeling… but it doesn’t (laughs). We had a huge brainstorming session to try and come up with a name because we’d gained maybe ‘writers block’. Eventually Emily came up with this name and we fell in love instantly. The making process however was a lot more difficult. We all write the songs collectively but I guess it took longer than most bands because we wanted to get our songs perfect and to sound exactly how we want. It’s taken about a year to write the twelve songs on the album, one of them being our debut single ‘Art is a Collaboration’ and we are so very proud of it- we can’t wait for everyone to hear it!

It’s been a pleasure interviewing The Pan!c as they’re not afraid to give their opinion and from what I have gathered, there are really passionate and dedicated about their music. I wish them all the best for 2011!

The Pan!cs debut album ’Part of Being Sane’ is out on 24^th May.

Mock Up DPS (Photoshop)

Mock Up DPS's (By Hand)

Mock Up DPS

Mock Up Contents (Photoshop)

Mock Up Contents (By Hand)

Mock Up Contents

Mock Up Cover (Photoshop)

Mock Up Covers (By Hand)

Mock Up Covers

Practise Editing

I'm not very experienced with Photoshop so I thought I'd have a practise at editing photos and using the tools. On this image I changed the contrast to darker than original, gave Emily darker lips and did this similarly to Harveys eye liner, as well as giving Sam a lip piercing and darkening Jacks earring.

For this image I lowered the opacity to a lower percentage and layered it on top of a brown background. I also added a nose ring to Emily and put the bands name above them.

Obviously I am not pleased with the outcome of either because I don't think they look professional at all, and some of the added extras don't portray the band exactly how I want them. However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing because later on in the task I can show how my skills have improved and it was only my first time so by practising I should only be able to get better!

Band Photoshoot

These are just some of the images I took on the day.

I have finally got round to doing my bands photoshoot and I quite pleased with the photos I got. I started off the day with getting everyone needed for the shoot to meet at my friend Emily's house in Enderby. She was going to be the lead singer of the band so I brought some outfits for her to wear. The outfit I chose for her to wear was my The Clash t shirt, a black PVC looking jacket, a denim skirt, lace leggings and Dr . I then had my friend Chris on hand to help with the hair (seeing as though he's a trainee hair dresser I thought I may as well use his talent). He styled her hair so that she had a lot of volume in the hope that she wouldn't lose it all out in the wind. For the makeup I put some think black eyeliner and mascara on her eyes and eye lashes and bright red lipstick, as well as the basic foundation.

The following members of my band were my friends Harvey, Sam and Jack. Unfortunately only Harvey was for the idea of wearing make up and I didn't want to force the other 'band members' to so I saw it as a good opportunity to use photoshop. I had Harvey wearing black eyeliner and volumised hair. His clothing was black Vans and jeans, a denim shirt and underneath a red t shirt with an image of Che Guevara. I thought this was a good idea because he led the Cuban Revolution and it shows rebellion- something punks were famous for. Jack can be seen wearing dark coloured jeans and trainers, with a black and red tartan jacket. Similarly to Harvey he also gave his hair some volume. Sam also did this as well as wearing black jeans and blue vans, with a black and white striped top, black hoodie and black jacket. I think everyone looked the best they could considering no one had any punk styled clothes, but I would have liked to have had more time to experiment with the clothing.

For the shoot I was joined my another friend of mine, Evie. She provided the camera and the various lenses as well as helping with taking photos. I chose to have the photos taken outside because I felt I could create more of an edgy atmosphere. For example, some of the shots were taken next to graffiti or outside an abandoned house; this mis en scene helps to create a more tough look for the band. On another image I was lucky enough to find a house with a union jack on which is a classic symbol for punks, so it worked well with my band. Another one I found good to work with was the 'Keep Clear' sign painted on the road. I chose to have them standing on it because it insinuates that they are 'breaking the rules', however I was hoping the images would turn out better than they have.

Overall I am pleased with the images that I have taken of the band. My personal favourite one would be a choice between the first one in the slide show when they are sitting on the wall, or one of the fish eye lense photos.

Preliminary Magazine

These are the two pages I created for my preliminary work. I created a front cover and contents. I thought it would be a good idea to post it at this stage because I can start to compare how my skills on Photoshop should hopefully have changed since the beginning of the year.

Test Shots

These are some of the test shots I got. I only used one person because I was struggling to get a band together at the same time. I chose my friend Rhia to do the modelling for me and used her to create the image of the lead singer of the band. I used her to test how I would have the hair on the shoot- this being quite big hair with a lot of volume, with thick black make up and red lipstick. For the outfits I chose two looks for her to model. The first one was a more feminine looking punk with a polka dot dress and fur coat; I chose these two items because I thought they'd be quite contrasting and not matching. The second outfit was ripped denim shorts and The Clash t shirt with the black jacket and Dr Martens. I am very plased with the shots that I got just for testing and might possibly put one of them on my contents page.

Artist Profile

Originally, the band featuring on my front cover will be called The Panic!, however I have decided to change it to The Pan!c because I think it uses the exclamation mark in a unique way. The band will be on the front as well as being in smaller images on the contents and the double page spread will contain an interview with them about their debut album and their inspirations and idols.

The band will consist of four members; the lead singer will be female and the other 3 members will be male. I have chosen the lead singer to be female because I think it would be different compared to your stereotypical punk bands,so hopefully more people will be interested as they aren't familiar with a female 'front man'. I also think it would be easier because I'd be able to find clothing for the shoot far more quicker. I like for her to be wearing mainly black- which would include tights/ leggings, a jacket a t shirt. I'd also like the t shirt to be a famous punk bands, because then I could show my audience that the bands idols include classic punk bands and it could also be a big part of the double page spread.

For the three males of the band, I want to have their hair styled with quite a bit of 'volume' and maybe some sort of quiff- I definately don't want it flat. I want them to be all wearing black jeans because that is a classic look and very recognisable. For their top half I would like them to be wearing some form of a black or red t shirt and if possible a suitable looking jacket too.

I would the like band to pose in various poses with different facial expressions. I want their to be serious poses as well and happy expressions and looking as though they're having a 'fun time'. On the front cover I'm hoping to have a serious looking band because that is how punk bands are normally seen posing, so I'd like to stick with this. However,on the double page spread I'd like to have fun looking pictures to show the more playful side of the band- to show that there are two sides to them.

I have decided that I shall have the photos taken outside because I believe that I can show the bands behaviour better outside than if it were to be inside on a plain background. I think I'll be able to show more rebellion from the band because I can have more rebellious settings.

Evaluating Another Pitch

I have decided to evaluate Sam Cook from my class for the pitch for his magazine-
Sam Cook Magazine Blog: Media Pitch

What I believe he did well was you could show that he has done research into his target market and knows exactly who he is aiming his magazine for. By using 'Laptop Generation' as 2 of his 25 words was a good choice because it implies that he knows exactly what his target market are interested in and what part of todays society consists of. He's decided to use black, white and blue as his colour pallet; I think this is a good choice because he's sticking similarly the conventional black, white and red. By changing the red to blue however I believe it will suit his target audience better. After seeing 'Inspiration/ artists' I gain a clear idea as to where his inspiration has come from- it's a reassuring thing to see that the inspiration is all very similar because you know exactly where their ideas have come from and they magazine should show consistency because the inspiration is all connected.

Some uncertainty I have of the magazine is the name that has been chosen. I think the name 'BeatMatch' is different and memorable, on the other hand I'm unsure as to the relevance it has to a DJ magazine (but this could just be due to my lack of knowledge of the genre of music). Sadly there aren't as many DJ magazines around compared to the mainstream or indie/ alternative which means Sam will have to do more research other than looking at NME and Mojo.

Overall I think Sam did a good job with his pitch and showed much confidence when pitching his idea. I think he has proved to have done a substantial amount of research, but more could still be done- I'll look forward to seeing the final product!

Pitch and Evaluation

Overall I believe my pitch went reasonably well. This was due to the content that was in my mood board- I'd like to think it contained enough information for my audience to gain an understanding of what my magazine will be about, where my inspiration came from, as well as what it will consist of. I also thought that I delt with the questions in a professional manner. I think I showed I was confident with my answers because I was able to give a clear explanation as to why I'd chosen certain aspects. However, I think on my moodboard I should have made clear who I was targeting and not have presumed that the audience would guess. It is important for people to know who your target audience is because then they can compare your pitch to whether it's appropriate to whom you are aiming it for.

I was asked about who would be on the front and unfortunately at the time I still hadn't completely decided. I believe I said in the answer I wanted a strong punk looking band with a mixture of girls and boys- this idea I am going to stick to.

Another question was about how I would get my magazine to appeal to the punks that grew up in that era as well as younger people who have a passion for the music. This was quite a difficult question to answer because I have to make sure I get my marketing techniques completely correct otherwise I could end up losing half of my target audience. To be able to do this I have made the decision that my magazine will be called Anarchy. I made this decision because I think people from the 70's and 80's will immediately recognise the name if they are aware it's a punk magazine because they'll think of the classic band The Sex Pistols. This should support the idea of original punks and hope that the new bands that will feature in the magazine will share similarities.

Magazine Publisher

I have chosen IPC Media to be the publisher of my magazine. They state on their website that they are "A Leading Magazine Publisher In The UK" and I feel that if my magazine is published by a well known and successful publishing company then it should become more recognisable. The company is very successful and manages to sell over 350 million copies of their magazines each year. It's also the publisher for NME magazine- this was my audiences most preferred music magazine, so they should feel some sort of familiarity when picking a magazine off the shelf, and opt for mine!

Band Name

After researching many punk bands- that being the older ones or modern- I have noticed a very common idea that each bands name starts with 'The...' (with the exception of a few). The Clash, The Jam and The Ruts being a good example. As well as this, I also noticed that the majority of the bands name, following 'The' was just a one syllable word. This idea was the beginning of finding a name for my band.

Whilst brainstorming I came up with the following ideas: The Dare, The Push, The Machines, The Young and The Panic. I narrowed it down to two names, those being The Dare and The Panic, and in the end I decided to go with The Panic. I thought this shared better connotations of the genre of my magazine and could maybe add an exclamation mark on the end to emphasise the amount of panic. It's also quite similar to 'anarchy' which as stated in previous posts, was a famous song for punk band The Sex Pistols and could be the name of my magazine. In conclusion, the band in my magazine will be called The Panic!.

I was also unsure as what to be the name of the bands first album; so after I'd browsed the Internet for inspiration, I came up with the idea of  'Part of Being Sane'. I like the idea of this being the album name because it gives the impression to the consumer that by buying and listening to the bands album you'll gain sanity.

Gallows

Another band I have found for my research are Gallows; they are a British punk band from Watford. However, the genre of punk they would be categorised under would be 'hardcore punk'. By researching these I can gain a clear view of the different types of punk music found in the industry in today's society.



Gallows were formed in 2005 and have done well in the UK Rock Chart since. Their most famous hit being Staring at the Rude Bois (a cover by punk rock band The Ruts) from their debut album Orchestra of Wolves went to number 1 in the UK Rock Chart and 31 in the UK Singles Chart. After their successful first year the band went on to win Best British New Comer at the Kerrang Awards later that year. Gallows have continued to be successful by making appearances at Download, Reading Festival, South By Southwest and Warped Tour.

The Ruts- Staring At The Rude Boys


Gallows- Staring At The Rude Bois

The Punk Show with Mike Davies



Mike Davies page found on Radio 1's website























I found this DJ whilst looking for some more modern punk bands. He's a DJ on Radio 1 who's show goes out every week at 2:00am till 4:00am on a Tuesday. He plays various types of punk music ranging from The Ramones, to Green Day to Frank Turner. I think this would be a good show to listen to in order to gain inspiration for new artists that I could put some research into.

Click here to listen to his latest show.

The Vaccines

I was introduced to the band The Vaccines by my dad a couple of weeks a go; he said he heard them on the radio and they played a couple of tracks as well as being interviewed. He explained how The Vaccines told of their influences being bands like The Cure and The Clash, and he could tell because they sounded great! I think this will be a good band to look into because someone of my target audience has shown a keen interest in them.



So far I have only put research into old punk bands, but as my teacher pointed out, I also need to look into post punk bands to get a full idea of what to put in my magazine.

The Vaccines are a four piece band based in London and formed in 2010. They've started of this year with brilliant success, by being confirmed as third place in the BBC's Sound of 2011 poll. As well as this they've also been nominated for 'Brand new for 2011' at the MTV Awards. The band have been compared to American rock band who were big during the punk era, The Ramones. The Vaccines debut album 'What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?' is due to be released on the 21st March 2011- an album my dad and I are very much looking forward to listening too!

Testing Fonts

A font can say a lot about you're magazine and can give your audience a hint as to what theme your magazine is based on- for this reason I must choose it carefully have a reason for using it.
The two used for Anarchy are both very contrasting. The first one in the list very much represents what anarchy is about- it's quite a violent text and none are neat or matching. The second one on the other hand is neat and all the same lettering, but because of it's 'boldness' it stands out and would seem superior to the other text on the page.
I was quite unsure as to what type of font to use for Revival; this was because the connotations are re-born and re-living something so there was many fonts that would give off that impression. I decided to use quite sophisticated fonts but both you can read easily, so it's straight to the point.
I like the font for the first MODist very much because there is a huge emphasis on the 'MOD' part of the word, which would mean my audience would immediately been drawn into it if they were fans. However, I also like the second choice but I think it would be good for a sub-heading.