Colour Consumers and The 50 Quid Bloke

Colour Consumers:

Yellow:

• optimistic and youthful
• often used to grab the attention of window shoppers
• yellow is mostly associated with joy; yellow can then stimulate for the TA/reader mental activity and generate musical energy to make the reader feel more positive and energised

The use of yellow would be effective within my indie-pop music magazine design as my target audience consists of a youthful group which are attracted to the colour yellow. Yellow stands out well against a dark background and can be used to suggest the theme of nature alongside other colours of blue or green, and although my music magazine images are planned to be taken outside, there are no aspects of nature that I wish to incorporate within my magazine design as I believe it does not convey the indie-pop genre.

Red:

• energy
• increases heart rate
• creates urgency
• often seen in clearance sales
• represents anger
• lust/love/romance

Using red within my indie-pop magazine would be effective in the use of ads or an exclusive article as this bright, bold colour would stand out to a potential purchaser/reader of the magazine. It also stands out well against a darker background or a black and white image as well as it is not often you see a large use of red within a music magazine especially indie-pop as the brighter red may be more associated with a R&B magazine. Although a more subtle, light red shade would suit my magazine genre more effectively. Therefore, I may use it within my magazine although the image used alongside the text in this colour would have to be considered carefully as there are many different shades of reds/oranges within my images. Furthermore, the further use of red would be overly used and will not look appealing as I want my magazine to connote a sleek, professional look.

Blue:

• creates the sensation of trust and security
• often seen with banks and business
• stability
• associated with confidence, wisdom and intelligence
• it can be viewed as calming as blue is the colour of the sky and sea; nature is seen to influence people in a calming way

The use of blue within my music magazine I believe will be ineffective; blue suggests a more serious and business orientated magazine and is therefore providing a sense of formality where as within my magazine I want it to be more informal. By not using blue, my magazine would appear more informal and therefore would appear more appealing to potential buyers within my target audience.

Green:

• associated with wealth
• the easiest colour for the eyes to process
• used in stores to relax
• symbolises fertility
• green is associated with growth which is therefore connected to the connotation of nature
• green could be used to create a sense of safety although, a dark green could be used to create a sense of wealth

The use of green within my music magazine would be incorporated through the setting of my main images rather than it being edited in through the text etc. Therefore, the only green I intend to use in my own music magazine is the green in my main images that is associated with nature.

Orange:

• aggressive
• creates a call to action: subscribe, buy or sell
• orange can be used in place of red due to its less aggressive connotations
• orange is often associated with joy, enthusiasm, creativity and success

The colour orange is a colour I have planned to use in my design of my music magazine as I am planning to have a very simplistic design that appeals to my target audience, the use of orange can be used as my images are based in an autumnal setting and therefore orange would blend in well. Although to increase continuity within my music magazine I will avoid using orange as although it creates a call to action I am not aiming to use it throughout the magazine.

Pink:

• romantic and feminine
• used to market products to women and young girls
• pink is widely associated with stereotypical feminine connotations such as being sweet, nice, cute etc.  

I will incorporate a light, pastel shade of pink within my music magazine in co-operation with any white or black text; this adds to the simplicity of my music magazine through the colours used. By having a lighter shade of pink it isn't seen as feminine as a darker, brighter pink which therefore suggests the shade I will incorporate will be viewed as more gender neutral.

Black:

• powerful and sleek
• used to market luxury products
• black would place a formal tone on a music magazine which should be used for more elegant magazines that are more advanced in musical knowledge; where as a colour like pink is more informal as it is usually used for pop genre music magazines targeted for children of whom enjoy the fun, simplistic side to their music

The use of black within my music magazine would be effective in that it incorporates a sleek, modern and luxurious look to my magazine. Indie magazines are stereotypically designed to be informal and raw looking, although as my music magazine is the genre of indie-pop a more sophisticated look can be incorporated due to the more formal, pop genre. Although the use of black alongside the light shade of pink would ensure that the magazine design is still incorporated as informal and therefore more audience focused.

Purple:

• used to soothe and calm
• often seen in beauty or anti-aging products
• purple is often associated with luxury, ambition, extravagance and independence

I may also incorporate the use of purple within my music magazine because I believe that it would be applied well within my colour scheme of black, white and pale pinks.

Overall my colour scheme will consist of:

50 Quid Bloke

The "50 Quid Bloke" refers to a middle aged man of whom spends £50 every so often on items he doesn't really need such as CDs, DVDs, books etc. This type of individual enjoys these simplistic purchases and he is also a big fan of music as he has been for his whole life.