Brief 4 - Vibrations Music Magazine Overview

Ben McKean OUGD303 www.b-mckean0912.blogspot.com

Board 1 of 7 Brief
Redesign and produce the magazine identity for the Leeds based music magazine 'Vibrations'. There is room for creative freedom but should reflect the tone of the magazine and work of the contributors such as writers and photographers. The budget is for a full process colour cover with black and a pantone colour of choice by the designers every issue.

Concept
To best celebrate and reward the work that the magazine contributors were doing voluntarily there work needed to be shown off as before the redesign it was stylistically small. Given the small format of the magazine, images, notably the cover image above, have been made full bleed. As well as being rewarding for the photographers it puts the content above any unecassary design. To make the magazine more recognisable a new logo, bespoke typeface and masthead have been produced which transfer onto other Vibrations media, merchandise and the inside of the magazine.

Product Specifications
Size: A5 ( 148mm x 210m) Cover: CMYK process inks

Brief 4 - Vibrations Music Magazine Layout and Grid

Ben McKean OUGD303 www.b-mckean0912.blogspot.com

Sam Airey, mild mannered guitar slinger with a hint of folksiness, has been stamping like a butterfly of late. From being the house band at the recent Live at Leeds launch to a Radio 1 Maida Vale set, he has been making his quiet presence known in quite a loud way. Ellie Treagust cornered this timid yet feisty little performer and pelted him with questions which you, dear reader, might like to know the answers to ET How would you like your music to be described? SA I never really know how to answer this question to be honest. Id rather people just make their own minds up when they listen to it. Id probably call it something along the lines of indie-folk storytelling; theres a real folk element to a lot of the songs but its not always a defining feature, I think. Lyrically I try and write with a strong narrative most of the time, but its not always the case. With the latest things weve recorded theres an emphasis on atmosphere, trying to create a mood that reflects the content of the songs, I guess. ET How do you go about the song-writing process? SA Theres no definitive method. Sometimes Ill have pieces of lyrics or a melody in my head and it can take the shape of a song within minutes, other times its more forced and you have to work at it a little more. I usually write with a guitar but Ive been sat at the piano a lot recently. However, Ive written whole songs before without being anywhere near an instrument; I wrote Endless Sea on a late-night ferry crossing from Ireland. It started with just a couple of words, but in my head I could hear everything - the chord progression, melody line, and soon I had a whole song, without actually making a sound. As soon as I got home I played it in full, it was pretty odd how it came out completely formed.

SA I like to think so. Lyrics are a big thing for me and I tend to spend a bit more time on them these days. Musically, Im less afraid to let the songs take course and change, so Im enjoying layering them and finding new sounds. Youd always hope youre constantly developing - if your next song isnt as good or better than your last, you probably need to sit back and question what youre doing. ET Whats your favourite venue to play at in Leeds? I have a few. The Brudenell is an obvious choice these days for all the right reasons. The sound is always great, and Nathan does a brilliant job of running it - its not just a cherished venue but an integral part of the Leeds scene. In terms of other venues, I like playing in slightly more unusual spaces too. The new EP launch at Holy Trinity Church will be the third time Ive played there. Its a beautiful space and it lends itself really well to the type of music I play. We did a single launch last year curated by Anthologies, inside the chapter house in Kirkstall Abbey, with no PA or amplification at all - that felt like a risky decision but it turned out to be one of the best gigs. Finally, Oporto and Shopkeepers gigs are always fun. Its brilliant they have a decent budget for live music and yet put on so many free shows. ET Theres been quite a surge of one man and his guitar acts in recent years - what makes you stand out?

years both on songwriting and learning how to hold a crowd on my own, which at first seemed like the most daunting thing in the world. But now that the recordings are increasingly layered and orchestrated, Ill be doing more with a full band too. ET Whats your biggest musical achievement to date? SA There have been a few. Music for me has always just been something Ive loved - I never really intended to get to this point, but with everything good that happens, it seems to spur you on to the next. At first it was a case of I have these songs, Ill write some more, then it was Ill record and release an EP, and now two years down the line Ive released singles, played around the UK, and Im currently writing an album. I think the most overwhelming thing has been the radio attention; the Radio 1 Maida Vale session was a huge highlight for me. ET Do your songs always turn out how you wanted them to or does the creative process change them? SA Sometimes youll have an idealistic sense of what you want the song to sound like, but you have to let the process run its course because you might end up with something that sounds better than whatever you anticipated. ET How much inspiration do you take from your surrounding area?

SA A varying degree. Im from rural North Wales originally, and bits of the songs are partly inspired by my memories of it, and also by my move to Leeds and getting used to life in the city. But Id say I take just as much inspiration from the people around me and the places I visit. ET A quick run-down of whats in store musically for you this year? SA Firstly theres the new EP A Marker & A Map, released in March with accompanying full band gig in Holy Trinity Church, and were also doing a London EP launch. Then Ill be doing some touring in April including my first gigs in Scotland, then of course Live at Leeds in May, and hopefully well be playing a few festivals during the summer too. ET If you could host a fantasy dinner party of seven guests, who would they be? SA Sam Cooke and Joni Mitchell would come, and Id also make them sing. Ernest Hemingway would be on drinks duty, Audrey Hepburn for some elegance and stories, Salvador Dali seemed pretty interesting too so he could probably come along. Then Id invite Charles Darwin and God, and make them have an arm-wrestling duel.
You can catch Sam Airey at Live at Leeds on Saturday 5th May. Be patient...

SA Ive always said theres an inherent flaw, or at least danger, with the term singer-songwriter, if thats what you want to call this. The problem lies in the fact that the term attempts to denote a genre, when all it really suggests is that it concerns someone who both sings and writes songs. However, these days we mostly come to associate it with a great deal of bland/dross music. One of the big problems for me is that its quite easy to pick up a guitar and get your songs on the internet - this may seem like a ET Have you noticed much development in your good thing but it means you have to wade song-writing since you began, and if so, how? through quite a lot before you find something of worth. Ive worked pretty hard the last couple of

Board 2 of 7 Design Concept

The frame shown on the cover of the magazine has been transfered onto the inside pages to give the magazine a more recognisable, consistant identity inside and out. The frame has also been used as a grid object to contain bosy copy on the Reviews and Interviews sections. Fewer images have been used then the previous magazine design, subsequently giving the remaining images more space to be made bigger. The larger images are clearer and put the content of the photograph first, each photographer as well as writer has also been credited for the work.

Layout and Navigation

As many readers pick up the magazine specifically to see a review for a band they are in, have seen or are a fan, find article throughout the magazine has been made eaier to navigate. The inclusion of navigation bars on the outside margin on the right hand page (image bottom left) means readers can flick to the band they are looking for which correlates with the content and page numbering. Credits for writers and photographers have also been included here to make them consistant .

Grid
Margins: Top 8pt, outside 8pt, bottom 8pt, inside 12pt. Columns: 12 columns with 3mm gutters Baseline Grid: 9pt increments

13 13

Words by Ellie Treagust ~ Images by Aaron Jones

Sam Airey

12

Brief 4 - Vibrations Music Magazine Bespoke Typeface

Ben McKean OUGD303 www.b-mckean0912.blogspot.com

Board 3 of 7 Concept
To give the magazine a stronger identity and consistant titling for the cover and page headings a bespoke typeface has been created based on the theme of vibrations. Vibrations encorporate wanted sounds and noise distortion. The letterforms have been based on this concept and take inspiration from diagrams, waveforms and music visuals.

Application
Within the headings 'noisy' letters have been mixed in at random to the 'sounds' (normal letterforms) to create a visualisation of what music is, a combination of sounds and noise. Headings have been applied to articles consistantly in the pantone colour for each issue, photographed above shows April 2012 issue featuring Pantone 201C.

Brief 4 - Vibrations Music Magazine Bespoke Display Typeface

Ben McKean OUGD303 www.b-mckean0912.blogspot.com

Board 4 of 7 Design Concept

To show the development of the bespoke typeface letterforms a series of sample publications have been made, each showing what visual or waveform influenced that particular letter.

Product Specification
Size: A5 ( 148mm x 210m) Colour: Black and White

Brief 4 - Vibrations Music Magazine Promotional Posters

Ben McKean OUGD303 www.b-mckean0912.blogspot.com

Board 5 of 7 Design Concept

The magazine is distributed in record shops, bars and drinking establishments in and around Leeds but it is not always known to customers of these place that the magazine is distributed there. To make customers aware of its distribution a series of special edition bespoke posters have been created and contain location specific names and artwork. Each issue release a new set of posters will be released consistant with the pantone colour of the issue and introducing new artwork.

Product Specifications
Size: A3 (297mm x 297mm) Colour: Mixed pantone 201C replica and black. Printed: Screen printed

Brief 4 - Vibrations Music Magazine Web Application

Ben McKean OUGD303 www.b-mckean0912.blogspot.com

LIVE REVIEWS

RECORDED

Board 6 of 7 Website / Twitter

The vibrations redesign has been transferred onto online content such as their website which features all reviews and PDFs of the magazines. The twitter feed which directs readers to the website has also been updates with the new masthead logo, as well as an issue specific icon featuring the cover image of the current issue.

iPad Application
A proposed iPad application for tablet users and magazine readers has been designed. The app includes all the articles from the current issue as well as archives of the past issues. The strengths of the app technology allow up to date access of current news and reviews for readers as well as a low cost, no printing for the magazine.

Brief 4 - Vibrations Music Magazine Promotional Material

Ben McKean OUGD303 www.b-mckean0912.blogspot.com

Board 7 of 7 Design Concept

To embrace the posters put up at distribution locations other promotional meterial has been produced. Beer matts for the drinking establishements where vibrations magazine is distributed have been made and direct the reader to the website. Badges have been produced to be given out at events attended by Vibrations staff such as writers or promoters, the badges feature the logo aswell us current issue cover artwork and the bespoke typography.