Detailed Research Into Forms and Conventions

I looked at 3 key magazines which were all related to my specific chose genre of Indie, with a deffinate ART link, very much like 'ArtRocker' which i looked at in my initial research. When comparing all 3 magazines, i noticed a lot of similarities which shows them targeting their specific audience.
To start, the audience of these magazines is around C1-B in the demographic scale, and in the physcographic i would say, Hedonists, Post materialists and aspirers. Each title- "ArtRocker", "NME", "LosingToday" have something to do with the contents of the magazine and all connote freedom and expression. I would say that NME is slightly different, because i think it is more of a PSUEDO individual magazine, rather than just indie, but it still gives me and idea of what to do and what not to do.

Titles

Losing Today- Is quite a Far fetched title but i think it links reasonably well with its target audience, i think it may be meant more literally. As the audience is post materialists, they would rather waste the day reading this magazines and do something else later.

NME- (New Musical Express) This name is very appropriate for this music genre because, firstly, it is well known as the abbreviation NME, suggesting that the readers are likely to seek it's full name, just like they seek their favourite music. Also, Musical Express suggests the typical independant strategies when it comes to creating music, they are not overly bothered about the profits, just getting their music out there and 'expressing' their 'musical' talent to a niche audience.

ArtRocker- I really love this title for the magazine, and it has inspired me to do something simliar to this. The magazine combines two things, Art and Music, so this is simply literal.

Audience

ArtRocker-I think the audience for this magazine is C1- B.
People who doodle over everything, people who never take their headphones out, people who do strange things because they feel like it.
The brand identity is upmarket for students, the pages are stylish yet sophisticated and they include many interviews with indie artists and bands, its more for reading- NOT just looking at the big bright pages. This is deffinately for an older audience because its something to READ and because of the mix of art and fashion it becomes inspiration for art students. I would say the age range is around 17-28 and it is aimed at both males and females.

Losing Today- The audience for this magazine is again C1. Aspirers, Post Materialists and hedonists. People who like to smoke and have grungy nights out, people who wear ties with everything, people who button their collars all the way up, people who like to party. Its a magazine again for reading, its very simple and safe, it doesnt appear to challenge any particular areas of media. This magazine is mixed sex, aimed at both male and female readers.

NME- The audience for NME is C2, apsirers, post materialists and also hedonists. People who like to have nights out, people who like to buy designer outfits that don't look it, people who go out at 1' o clock in the morning to buy a pint of milk because they were thirsty and people who grab a bowl of cereal in the middle of the day. This magazine is a tiny bit more downmarket but it very well known. I see this magazine as PSUEDO individual because it includes alot of indie artists but appears in many major stores and advertises itself well and so i imagine the target audience could range from young teens who want to appear individual but want to find out about the latest music, but also to older students who just grab this mag because they like the look of it and want to see their favourite artists inside.

All of these magazines are similar because they are all at the same end of the market, and are all aimed at older studentsand young adults. They all contain pages that are more for reading not just looking at, with a some large pictures of artists dotted around. To me, these magazines slightly edge toward the more male market but i know that they are unisex, so with my magazine i will try and incorperate some more female features.

Style

NME-There is a specific housestyle to NME. It consists of black, white and red, and this continues throughtout the contents and first double page spread, connoting maturity, adolescence and sophistication. On the cover, the band 'Babyshambles' is printed in front of the title suggesting a well known magazine. It isnt a particularly busy page, with only 5 main areas of text and 2 smaller pictures (excluding the background shot). The fonts are bold and simple, with no intricacy to them, like IMPACT or ARIAL BLACK. The contents page is quite dependant on the audience knowing what they are writing about, you must know the titles listed in the contents page, such as- "3OH" " A grave with no name" and "Father murphy". The contents are also written in alphabetical order, making it easier for the audience to immediately find out what they want. The contents runs down the left hand side in a small column and then there is a huge snapshot placed over the rest of two indie artists, with a small article about it at the bottom. Lastly, the double page spread is called "whats on the NME stereo" which is also being covered by an indie band, suggesting a regular thing. It is a page covered with indie artists labelled 1-10 with reviews on each and a picture of them- still continuing the house style.

Losing Today- Again here is a specific house style to Losing Today. It consists of mainly black, white and orange, connoting maturity, sophistication and perhaps fun. On the cover, popular artists are printed always behind the title, suggesting that it isnt a very well known magazine, maybe quite new. The covers are never jam packed, they are sparse, with a few areas of text and one main (usually head and shoulders shot) of an artist covering the entire page. The fonts are bold and simple, like BODONI MT BLACK or ARIAL BLACK. As i have noticed previously, the cover page also relys on the readers to know whats going on. I can not see the contents page and double page spread because i researched this magazine using the internet and cannot buy it, but i imagine they carry the same simplistic style all the way through.

ArtRocker- This magazine is very fresh and sophisticated, but looking back through previous issues, i saw alot more colour on the pages but still with black and white involved. They used alot of green too. This particular house style continues through to the contents page and double page spread. As for fonts, it becomes a little more experiemental and creative because it is an Art magazine aswell, so it becomes funkier, but they still manage to keep to the sophisticated yet fun connotations. They use fonts like CHILLER and BELL GOTHIC STD.

All these have very similar conventions and colours such and black and white. They are all simple and sophisticated with bold non intricate fonts. Because i would like to create a magazine that also involves art like "ArtRocker" i will combine both sans and sans serif fonts.