Rationale for Front Cover

Now that i have completed my music magazine, i will now give reasoning for all my decisions that i have made. These reasons are listed below.

Masthead:
Feature: The title of my magazine is called "LOUD!", it is wrote in capital letters with an exclamation point after the word 'loud'. 
How it appeals to my target audience: This appeals to my target audience because the magazine is rock-based, therefore it will contain a lot of bands who are heavy and loud, as this is the type of music that my target audience listens to. A simple way of showing this in one word to simply just name it "Loud". The exclamation point emphasises the volume, along with the upper cased lettering, as when we read upper cased letters, our brain usually sub consciously automatically reads it as if the words were being shouted, as opposed to spoken. 
Feature: The font is written in white, blue and black
How is appeals to my target audience: i wanted my magazine to be gender neutral, therefore my magazine colour scheme is red, blue and white. As red is aimed more towards the females and blue is more towards the males. Because of this, i have made the mast head blue, and the other features on my magazine will be red. 

Main Image:
Feature: My model - Peter Kinmond
How it appeals to my target audience: I chose my friend Peter as my model because he is a male who plays in a band and has a taste for rock/grunge styled music. Because of this, i knew he would have no problem in looking the part for my magazine. I used a male model as males are stereotypically more known for being 'rockstars' as opposed to females, and this will also attract members of the opposite sex. 
Feature: My model's outfit - Red shirt with blue denim jacket, black skinny jeans and converse. 
How is appeals to my target audience: Red and blue is my initial colour scheme, therefore his red flannel shirt and blue denim jacket contributed to it nicely. I chose the black skinny jeans because they are stereotypically worn by almost all rockstars, and it just helps with the "Rock look". I altered the colours and contrast in order to make it look less vibrant, this way his outfit looks slightly more washed out, which causes him to look slightly more grunge. 
Feature: Model's facial expression - Snarling with direct mode of address
How it appeals to my target audience: The snarling pose is implying that he is dangerous and does not want to be messed with, which is suitable because it ties in with the theme of recklessness and aggression usually associated with rock musicians. He direct mode of address allows him to look directly towards the camera, which entices the viewer and makes it feel like he is personally looking at them. 

Secondary Image:
Feature: Model's costume - Nirvana jumper, blue skinny jeans, black covers
How it appeals to my target audience: It appeals to my target audience because when looking at the survey, a lot of my audience buy band merch off the internet and they wear it on a dayto day basis. By getting peter to wear band merchandise, it allows the viewer to relate to him, and it adds to the idea that he fits into the category of "Rock". The jeans and converse are also popular with my target audience, as found out due to surveys, therefore it is appropriate that he wears them. 
Feature: Locations - The knack, Barnes Park
How it appeals to my target audience: The Knack is the place where Peter's band actually practice on a weekly basis, therefore i thought it would be appropriate to gather some photographs of him acting natural in his own band. This also meant it didn't take any extra time out of his schedule, and it gives the viewer a real feel for what it's like backstage and at band practices. Barnes park was my initial idea when i did location scouting, therefore i took a shot there in order to stick to my original plan.

Main Sell-line:
Feature: Title(1) - "Infernal Blackout:"
How it appeals to my target audience: 'Infernal Blackout' is a band name found on an online band generator, and it gives off the impression that the band are really violent and aggressive, as 'Blackout' is a powerful word. This is useful when referring to my target audience because it implies that the band will be part of the Rock genre, which is what my music magazine is based on.
Feature: Title(2) - "Peter talks gigs, games and girls"
How it appeals to my target audience: Going to gigs and playing video games are two of the most popular hobbies which i came across when doing my target audience research, therefore my audience will be interested in an interview/discussion about both topics. By adding 'and girls', it shows the female audience that he is available and is willing to talk about them. This has been done with the intention of attracting the female audience into reading more about the magazine. I used the word "Peter" without any last name or anything to imply that he is very well known and recognised, therefore does not need a surname to be recognised.

Puff:
Feature: "Win! tickets to LOUD! tour 2014"
How it appeals to the target audience: When doing my research and target audience surveys, i found that most of my target audience have been to over 6 festivals in their lifetime, therefore festivals are a big part of my audience's lives. By enticing them with a chance to win free tickets to the Loud! tour; i am not only advertising the magazine's festival, but i am also encouraging them to participate. I have also used an exclaimation mark after the word "Win" to link in with the mast head of my magazine.
Feature: Colours used - red, blue, white and black.
How it appeals to my target audience: i wanted my magazine to be gender neutral, therefore my magazine colour scheme is red, blue and white. As red is aimed more towards the females and blue is more towards the males. White and black are both gender neutral colours, as neither of them are technically classed as official colours. Because of this, i have made the "WIN!" text blue, the back ground black with white text overlayed, and the border of the puff in red. This way, i have used all the colours in my colour scheme, without letting any clash.

Essential Information:
Feature: Price - £2.10
How it relates to my target audience: My magazine is sold weekly, and therefore i did some research into the pricing of existing popular weekly rock magazines. The most popular of these magazines was Kerrang! priced at £2.20 per issue. The content of my magazine is fairly similar to Kerrang!'s magazine therefore i needed to compete against it. Therefore i have made my price £2.10: 10p cheaper than Kerrang!, making it better for value.
Feature: Issue Number - #001
How it relates to my target audience: Considering this is the first of my LOUD! magazines, it is obviously going to be issue number one. However, i have displayed it as #001 because the 3 digits implies to the target audience that the magazine is expected to still be existing hundreds of weeks later, as it will be successful enough to carry on going. This gives my audience faith in the magazine and will ensure them that it will be available in years to come.

Coverlines:
Feature: titles: "Enter Shikari back-stage exclusives: interviews and photos inside!, Paramore: Hayley tells us about the newly added tour dates, Bury Tomorrow announced for 2014 Download and Loud tour, A day to remember's brand new album - common courtesy review inside!"
How it relates to my target audience: When doing my survey, i asked everyone what their favourite bands are, the restults were: Biffy Clyro, Blink-182, Paramore, Nirvana, Enter Shikari, All Time Low, Man Overboard, Gnarwolves, A Day to Remember, Bring me the Horizon, Avenged Sevenfold, Bury Tomorrow, Kaiser Cheifs, Last breath and buried in Verona. Seeing as how Enter shikari, Paramore, Bury Tomorrow and A Day to Remember all fall under these results, i decided to make the coverlines about them, as these 4 bands were among the most popular of all the results, which shows that the audience are interested in them and want to read more about them.
Feature: Arrow shaped boxes
How it relates to my target audience: The arrows are pointed to the right, coming into the page from the edge. This sub-concsiously implies to the reader/target audience that the information is being brought directly into the magazine, and it makes it just slightly more appealing than plain rectangular boxes.

Banners:
Feature: Top banner: "Exclusive interview with Peter Kinmond inside"
How it appeals to target audience: The word 'Exclusive' shows the reader that the information included within the magazine is fresh and has never been read before, which makes it exciting for them to read. I used Peter's name without mentioning what band he's from to imply that he is a successful musician and does not need too much explanation on who he is; people just instantly recognise him.
Feature: Lower Banner - "+ Kaiser Cheifs, Man Overboard, Bring me the Horizon, Biffy Clyro, Blink 182, You Me At Six, Avenged Sevenfold, Slipknot, Foo Fighters"
How it appeals to target audience: When doing my survey, i asked everyone what their favourite bands are, the restults were: Biffy Clyro, Blink-182, Paramore, Nirvana, Enter Shikari, All Time Low, Man Overboard, Gnarwolves, A Day to Remember, Bring me the Horizon, Avenged Sevenfold, Bury Tomorrow, Kaiser Cheifs, Last breath and buried in Verona. As Kaiser Cheifs, Man Overboard, Bring Me, Biffy, Blink and Avenged Sevenfold all fall under this list, i decided to use them, as i know the readers are interested in reading about them. Despite these bands, i have also added You Me at Six and Foo Fighters to the banner, both of which are not included on the list, this is because both these bands fall under the genre of my magazine, therefore i know that my viewers may also be interested in them.