The 4 F's of magazine design.

Formula
The articles and features that go into the magazine should remain the same each month. This would be an important factor as readers find their favourite part of a magazine and keep buying it expecting to see it there monthly, such as gig reviews always being at the back. It adds familiarity and also the magazine can then produce articles that follow on from each other when they keep it consistent , like my indie magazine could  'Top 20 Festivals' and in a January issue there would be festivals 20-15 mentioned, and 15-10 would be in the next issue, this would result in people re-buying the magazine. Indie people probably listen to their music a lot more digitally compared to actually attending gigs. So the more engaging, download information for example, would probably be at the front and would have to remain there throughout for the best 'formula'.  My magazine would include monthly festival information, gig information and new music as the genre is all about being current.

Format
What the magazine 'looks' like. It will need to appeal to the indie genre, and look like a good magazine with the typical magazine elements as well. This would be the use of fonts, colours and general layout. The fonts I have selected look particularly scruffy and aren't very formal, reflecting the indie genre. I made sure they looked quite handwritten, yet readable. I really like including the type writer font as I think it looks really cool and is understandable at the same time. I chose to use neutral black and white colours with injections of the colour orange, as this way it isn't too in your face and the orange colour doesn't appear to be aimed at one particular gender. 


Frame
The margins and gutters. Linking in with formula is the need to keep the margins and gutters throughout the magazine the same, preferably clear, as this makes it quite professional looking.


Function
What the magazine is for. I think this is important and is something that should be clear. My magazine would be for indie music and it's listeners, quite instrumental music with frequent use of guitars for example, compared to synthetic beats and noises that would be found in pop. Also being very current is an important factor. The fact that it doesn't mention any old music, reinforces the young age it is also aimed at selling to.