This is the final idea for my masthead for my alternative rock/grunge genre magazine. I decided to choose the name “Underground” because I thought it was suitable and fitted well. I thought it was suitable because you can imagine it on the front page of the magazine, and along with the style and the type of font it will create a really edgy, unique look that will hopefully catch the eye of many people and attract them to take a look inside the magazine, and possibly then lead them to buy it.

When you’re underground, you’re below the surface. It’s hidden and concealed away from everything above the surface and in the radar. For instance, pop and RnB are extremely popular and constantly in the charts and on the radio, Underground will highlight music that isn’t as popular and well known, and it’s aimed at a market of people who prefer the rocky, alternative type music and would prefer to stay away from chart hits.   Underground also portrays the sense of exclusiveness, it being underground and mysterious, you have to be aware of it before you really know it.

The font I decided to use was slightly eroded and destroyed. I wanted to conceive an untidy and chaotic look for the front cover and starting with the masthead is the best way to go. The masthead really reinforces the magazines genre so it’s vital to pick a suitable one that will bring out the music style and highlight the house style. I wanted to pick an edgy, reckless style as that’s exactly what the music is. It’s different, loud and outgoing. The colour I wanted to use from the start was black. Black is bold and has connotations of being dark. It has more negative connotations than positive, but it correlates with the music type, and especially the actual name underground. It’s quite rough and grungey, which is perfect for the genre and style. In the end I went for both black and white. They are contrasting colours but it creates a really clear masthead, which is significant for the market to recognise the magazine, in particular at the beginning stages of your magazine when it’s not established or well known.