Initial Idea - My Music Magazine

After analysing and researching other music magazines, I am now thinking about ideas for my own music magazine. I am going to make a front cover, contents page and a double page spread for a mainstream pop and R&B music magazine. This means that I would be designing a magazine a bit like 'Top of the Pops'. My target audience would be aged between 16 - 24 years. I would like my magazine to target both males and females, although I think it will end up just appealing to females, as I would like to include gossip pages.

Analysis of Magazine Double Page Spreads - Analysis of 'Top of the Pops' magazine's double page spread

• The mastheads are the names of the boys that are being interviewed and the quotes. This works well as it makes the reader feel included as it tells them immediately who is being interviewed. The fonts used for the names are quite playful as they are like handwriting. The fact that the names are in different colours tells the reader that each boy is different (unique) from the last. The quotes stand out well in white, as the background is a dark grey; this draws the attention of the reader to the quotes.
• The main colour scheme is grey, white and either blue/green. These colours are quite sophisticated. The blue and green remind the reader that this is still a young girl’s magazine and that the interviews are with young males.
• The main images are of two young males, both looking quite insecure, which fits in with what the mastheads say. However, the male on the right looks more relaxed compared to the male on the left, suggesting that he is the more confident one out of the two. Both the males are attractive which would appeal to young girls. The males are also wearing colours that fit in with the main colour scheme.
•  All the fonts are in serif suggesting that these interviews are serious and not light-hearted; they are about serious issues or events that the boys have been through. This contrasts with the general feel of the magazine, as the rest of the magazine; is more relaxed.
• The layout is simple. With text on the left-hand side of the pages, while the images are on the right. This draws the reader’s attention to the images.

Analysis of Magazine Double Page Spreads - Analysis of 'Q' magazine's double page spread

• The masthead’s font is like the letters have been ripped out of a newspaper and stuck in (like a ransom letter). This works well as it draws the reader’s attention to it, as it is bold and eye-catching. The black and white works well, because they are contrasting colours and so they stand out.
• The main colour scheme is black, white and red. These colours are quite sophisticated, but at the same time they have connotations of danger, jail, confusion and ‘streetwise’.
• The main image is of a young woman (Lily Allen) leaning forward with her hands on her hips. This could suggest that she is strong, independent and that she doesn’t take any nonsense from anyone. Also, the way her head is positioned to the side and the fact that she is giving the reader eye contact, has connotations of her trying to dare the reader to do something, or her telling the reader ‘to have a go, if you think you can’.
• All the fonts are in sans-serif suggesting that the woman is a very relaxed, informal person, as well as the magazine.
• The layout is simple. Text on the left page, while the image is on the right. This draws the readers attention to the image.

Analysis of Magazine Contents Pages - Analysis of 'Kerrang's' contents.

• The main colour scheme/house style is yellow, white and black. Which has connotations of grime or rock. The yellow stands out against black, so it is eye-catching and grabs the reader’s attention.
•  The main image is of ‘The All American Rejects’ all looking at the camera, however they all appear to be looking at the camera from different angles, which has a sense of confusion. This would appeal to the target audience, as it is different, which is how some of the readers would describe themselves. This image is not a lot larger than the other images, however the smaller images are positioned around it, so it draws the readers attention to it.
• The font is all san-serif. This suggests that ‘Kerrang’ is an informal, relaxed magazine.
• The masthead is positioned at the top-right of the page, so that it is one of the first things the readers sees. It is not much bigger in size than the headlines, but this shows that the magazine is confident that readers will know it’s a contents page without needed to have a big masthead telling them that it is. Also, because the masthead is written in a bold, yellow font, on a black background it stands out.
• The layout of this contents page is images on the left side, and text on the right. The main image is ‘boxed in’ by the rest of the smaller images, which means the reader’s attention is drawn to main image. The text is positioned down the right-hand side so that it is easy to read and is not in the way of any of the images.

analysis of Magazine Contents Pages - Analysis of 'Q' magazine's contents.

• The main colour scheme/house style is red, white and black. Which has connotations of sophistication or rock. The red stands out against the white and black, so it grabs the readers attention and also shows them what they ‘must read’.
• The main image is of ‘The Courteeners’, which would appeal to the target audience, as this magazine specializes in bands. This image is also very large so, the readers attention is automatically draw to it.
• The font is san-serif for the headlines, but serif for the features/straplines. This suggests that, while parts of the magazine will be very relaxed and informal, overall ‘Q’ is a magazine to be taken seriously.
• The masthead is positioned right at the top of the page, so that it is one of the first things the readers sees. It is not much bigger in size than the headlines, but this shows that the magazine is confident that readers will know it’s a contents page without needed to have a big masthead telling them that it is.
• The layout of this contents page is quite simple; with the text positioned around the main image (positioned top-right). This layout draws the reader’s attention to the image.

Analysis of Magazine Covers - Analysis of 'Top of the Pops' magazine's front cover

•  The main colour scheme/house style is pink and white, which has connotations of being very girly and playful. This also tells us that the target audience is young girls (between the ages of 8 – 13 years).
• The main central image is of a young male (Justin Beiber) smiling at the camera. The fact that he is giving us eye contact makes the reader feel included/ special and like they have a connection with him. Also, the fact that part of the male’s head is covering the masthead, shows that the magazine is very confident that they will be recognized, even when you cannot read the whole masthead.
• The layout is very busy, with coverlines displayed all over the page. There is no blank space left, as there are stories positioned in every available space.
• The fonts used are all san-serif, which has connotations of being a relaxed, informal magazine. Which would fit in with the target audience.
• Buzz words are used like; ‘shocking’ to grab the readers attention.
• The masthead is positioned across the top of the page so that it is one of the first things the reader will see. It is written in a very funky, playful font, which would appeal to the target audience. Also, it has the same colour scheme as the house style so that it fits in with everything else on the magazine, as well as fitting in with the target audience.

Analysis of Magazine Covers - Analysis of NME front cover

• The main colour scheme, also known as the house style is pink, white and black. These colours have connotations of 'rock-chick', so maybe this is the audience they are targeting.
• The main central image is of a band of five males, positioned in a pyramid shape. This tells us the male stood at the top of the pyramid is the most important member of the band; e.i. he could be the lead singer.
• The layout is quite busy. The stories have been positioned to look like they are exploding out of the central image, which grabs the readers attention.
• The masthead is positioned in the top left-hand corner, with the main central image covering parts of the masthead slightly. This suggests that the company are so confident that their magazine will be recognized that they can cover up parts of the masthead, and readers will still be able to tell it is 'NME'.
• The fonts used are all sans-serif, which gives the impression of being relaxed and informal. This also makes them easy to read.

Analysis of Magazine Covers - Analysis of 'Q' magazine's front cover

• Main colour scheme is white, pink, yellow and red. Which is quite girly.
• Central image, like colour scheme is girly apart from blood on girls head. It has connotations of ‘everything not being what it seems’, abuse or mis-behaving, as the girl also looks quite young and innocent.
• The masthead is instantly recognizable; A bold, white 'Q' on a red square. The house style is often revolved around the masthead as well. The masthead is also the logo for the magazine, this is another reason why it is so recognizable.
• The fonts used are mostly all sans-serif, which means that they are bold and easy to read.
• The target audience is young adults between the ages of 15 - 24 years, as the older generation would be 'put-off' reading a magazine that had a image of a young girl with blood on her head. Also the colours are quite playful and girly, which would appeal to the younger generation.
• The layout revolves around the main image, in a arch shape. It is quite simple, and makes the reader focus on the main central image.

Introduction to the Main Task and Action Plan

Now that I have completed the prelimary task, I will now be completing the main task of creating the front cover, contents and double page spread of a music magazine. All the text and images used on this magazine will be my own, as I will  not copy others work.

Action Plan

16th January:

• Compare magazines and research the magazine market place.
• Research similar products: 3 x front covers, 2 x contents pages, 2 x double page spread.

24th January:

• Initial ideas.
• Audience research.
• Writing a treatment plan.

30th January:

• Layout/Masthead ideas.
• Plan photoshoot and take photos.
• Drafting of pages.
• Audience feedback.

6-27th February:

• Drafting of pages.
• Audience feedback.

5th March:

• Evaluation.

13th April:

• Final deadline for any work and evaluation.

I will keep referring to my action plan throughout the project so that I will know exactly what I need to do.

My Student Magazine - 'NERD'

MY FINISHED MAGAZINE FRONT COVER AND CONTENTS

I am very happy with my finished magazine cover and contents page, as I think they fit the genre of 'student magazine' as well as being eye-catching and modern.

While making my front cover I encountered a few problems. Firstly, the computer I was working on deleted my mock-ups of my front cover and contents page, so I had to start from scratch, meaning I was behind on my schedual. Also, my orginal name for my magazine was 'Nerdilicious', however, due to it being too long, it would either not fit on the page or would not look like a masthead, as it was too small. So I shortened my orginal magazine name to 'Nerd', which actually works better. Also, due to some of my images being many different colours, it was difficult to find a font colour that would work with all of the various colours. So instead, I went for the simple black or white font. Overall though, I am very happy with my magazine cover.

During the making of my magazine contents, I found that due to being behind on my schedual after my computer deleted my mock-ups, I had to rush to finish my contents. Also, just like with my front cover; many of the images I took had various different colours on them so it meant that it wasn't easy to find a font colour that was compatiable with the many colours on my images. However, considering that I rushed my contents page; I am very happy with it overall.


MY MOCK-UPS: My front cover and contents page.

This is the mock-up for my front cover.

This is the mock-up for my contents page.