Style Models:

After my draft I have been looking at other magazines to see which are the ones I have taken the most inspiration from, also the ones that have given me ideas of what I want to create in my magazine. This is important for my design because it enables me to realise what components of the magazines I'm reading will go into my own magazine and what I love the most about magazines of the same genre that are already on the market. Also with my style models I have been able to recognise what other magazines are on the market that are the same as my genre, because most shops only stock the really popular magazines such as NME and Q; I have been able to look beyond those and see the new and more quirky magazines that are more in keeping with the ideas that I have had originally. Magazines such as Clash, Dazed and Confused, etc have inspired me to think outside the box and push the boundaries on what is normal inside a magazine. My final magazine design will be slightly different due to the fact that I have thought of new ideas and those new ideas have sparked other features that I could possibly add to my design, and this is due to the fact that I have been able to look at different magazines and their layouts and features and by looking at them critically I have been able to see which aspects of that magazine I like the best and apply them to my own design.

The magazine that has influenced me the most would have to be Clash (in particular Issue 91, featuring both Earl Sweatshirt and Banks on the front covers)

For me this is how I would want my magazine to look, more so the front cover with Banks on the front because I love that photography (that is something I was intending to re-create however I struggled with finding a suitable way to do it within a studio) I also love the choice of font and how that was incorporated and laid out on the front cover because it looks so effortlessly placed on the page. For my next draft I might try and get a similar font and re-create this layout of the coverlines.

Also another aspect I like a lot is the different names for the issues (from L-R: The Festival Issue, The Tech Issue, The Fashion Issue, The Denim Issue), this is something I have tried to re-create this on my magazine already however I think I am going to alter it slightly (by just re-naming it). Also on these slightly earlier issues I really like the font used and again, the placement of the coverlines, I think it looks really classic and understated which is the look I would like to re-create on my final design. I have already started to develop my final design, it is a lot different than my first draft (implying to the front cover) and it also looks a lot different to these magazine covers, however I am still playing with ideas and I think I have time to experiment and see which design I prefer and see what fits the style of my magazine and genre the best.

Even though this magazine isn't quintessentially a music magazine (it is a women's magazine for fashion) I am still very inspired by the design of this magazine and it is one design option that I am thinking of because I think it could work in a music magazine context. The photography is something I am looking at as well and it is something that I am going to re-create; for example I am going to take the pictures and apply a black and white effect over the top to create a similar effect to 'The Gentlewoman'. Also with how they have different colours as the background with the white border surrounding the main image, I might see if it works on my front cover and whether I should include that on my magazine at all.