contents page analysis

This a contents page for Kerrang magazine. It involves many images and lot of bright colours which i personally think makes it look quite busy. It does however make it look interesting as there are lots of things going on. The main image is off a band called Slipknot who are wearing all black and strange masks. This is a rather strange image and would draw people in to find out what it is all about making it a good image for a contents page. In the top left corner this is a photo of the editor and a little story about something featured in that issue. The beginning of the text is in bold making it stand out and show that this is a start of an article as this is common at the beginning of a piece of text.
There are 7 other images of varies different bands on this contents page and that is there to brighten up the page and give the audience knowledge of what kind of other things are going to be inside the magazine.
The text is in one simple column down the right hand side with bolder, coloured headings to help the reader find what they are looking for easily. The font is quite simple and all the same, as the photos and colours already make it look exciting enough.
I like there use of lots of bright colours as this makes it look exciting and would be something that would catch the audience’s eye. I also like how they have used a main image on the contents page and i would like to include this aspect in my own work as i already have an idea of what image i would like to use. is

double page spread analysis

This is a double page spread from the magazine 'NME' it features a band called Florence and the Machine, a largely recognised Indi band around at the moment. The main image takes up a lot of the feature and is the first thing you look at when you see this as she is pulling quite a fun, quirky pose playing round with flags in a long shot so you can see her whole body. I like how the photo is the main focus of the page as it makes the feature look less dull as the writing is only part of the focus here and I may consider this idea for my own work. The colour scheme is quite plain with white, black, pale green and red how ever this looks professional as it doesn’t look too busy. I also like how the text is all the same and simple and this fits in with the simplistic look they are obviously going for.

This is a double page spread on Hayley Williams for the magazine Kerrang! She is a massively famous female singer for the band Paramore with a huge fan base and is largely recognisable. Like the feature above the image is the main focus of the feature. It is a close us of Hayley Williams face while she is singing and is quite a cheerful photo. The colour scheme is black white and orange which is quite dark but has a cosy feel to it, and the artist’s hair matches the colour scheme making it look quite professional and neat. The text is in a simple font coloured white so it is readable on the dark background with a large sub heading above giving an insight of what material is going to be in the article encouraging there audience to read on. There is a smaller image on Hayley Williams and her band mates at the bottom of the page witch also fits in quite well with the colour scheme so this was a suitable photo used. This gives the audience more background knowledge on the singer as it shows you the other people she is associated with in the music business. I like that they have added more than one photo to the feature giving there audience something more to look at and I shall take this into consideration when I am making my own feature.

examples of magazines matching my genre

INDIE MAGAZINE

The magazine i am researching is called INDIE. This is an independent style magazine featuring cutting edge fashion and music which focuses lesson celebrities and gossip. This is a magazine that i really like as i can relate to the models that feature on the front. I like the font that they have chosen for the mast head as it is quite plain and boring however it contrasts with the bright colours underneath. I also like how every issue has a different blast of colour. It seems colour has a lot to do with how this magazine gets noticed as this was how it caught my eye. I also like this random and quirky images they have used as this is what gives it its originality, and also the accessories that don’t seem to fit in with the magazine as i think it makes it stand out. Another thing i enjoy is how they have put writing over the top of the image of the model. Because they have done this that is the first piece of text i read as it stands out. This is quite effective and i will r

emember this when i am designing my own magazine and want my main story to stand out. This magazine style is something i really want to include in my magazine, and it is the magazine that will influence what my magazines look the most as it ticks all the box's of what my genre of music is all about, i think the colours they have used with largely influence what my finished product will turn out like as i really like this aspect of these magazine covers. The style of the models have also given me an insight of what is the kind of thing that is expected to be on my model. 

PAPER MAGAZINE

These are examples of a magazine called PAPER. On there front covers they use interesting celebrities with a large fan base there for making them eye catching and interesting to there audience as many people know who they are. On the first front cover is Lilly Allen with big bright pink hair. This looks attractive and quite unique making it a brilliant image for a front cover as this is what is going to bring in there audiences attention. On the second front cover is Ke$ha pulling a face making her look quirky and exciting giving off the impression that the magazine is also going to be like this. Also on the second front cover they have changed the style of there masthead PAPER and put it in individual coloured boxes. I like this technique as i like there use of lots of colours as this contrasts with the plain white background giving off a good effect. I shall consider this use of plain backgrounds with coloured writing in my own production however will not consider using individual boxes as i feel this makes it look quite amateur.

NME MAGAZINE



This is NME magazine which stands for New Musical Express. It is a very famous indi magazine and has been running for many years. This magazine is very masculine despite featuring female artists on their front covers. On the front cover above they have used female singer La Roux looking striking in her pale make up with tears coming down her face. This image is very drastic and is good for a front cover as it catches peoples eye. They have used a very dark background and contrasted it with bright yellow and white writing for the masthead there for making it very easy for there audience to identify what they are saying. There use of these colours means they look more appealing to a male audience and i personally wouldn’t want to just appeal to one sex therefore i shall be following a different colour scheme to this one how ever i do like there used on contrasting colours as this to me looks very effective.

my survey

I have conducted a survey on survey monkey for my music magazine where I ask my friends questions and this gives me feedback on the quality of my magazine. Here is a graph from one of my questions about the colours in my magazine.  I asked them 'what colours would you most expect to see in my music magazine' this shows that the people who did my survey were mostly expecting the colour green to be in my magazine. They expected the colour red to be featured in my music magazine the least.

 

This is a plan of my magazine front cover. It is quite basic but i am planning on having a large photo of my artist in the middle from the waist upwards and mast heads around her body with the title of my magazine located on the top left hand corner behind the image so the image is the main focus. I am planning on using lots of bright different colours so it looks attractive but also appeals to both male and female.

research and planning for music magazine

For my music magazine, the genre i have chosen is indie. I have chosen this as this as this is the type of genre i am most interested in and i know more information about it. Indie is also rather popular with the age range i am trying to appeal too. This genre of music includes bands such as The drums, The kooks, Florence and the machine and Vampire weekend.  My target audience is going to be students and young adults. The reason i chose this target audience is because, as i am also a young adult, this is the audience i can relate to the most.

For my main story i am going to photograph my friend Sofia as she regularly sings at different venues and fits in with the genre of music i have chosen. On the front cover i shall have a picture of her posing on her own and you will see her from the waist upwards. this is mainly so you can see her face in detail but you can still see enough of her body to understand what she looks like. The background colour will be a different colour to any of what is on her body to make her stand out and be the main focus of the front cover. For the main story i shall have pictures of her singing on stage and with her band and varies photos of her singing on her own.

My magazine is going to represent both male and female and is going to appeal to a young adult audience. Because it is appealing to both sex's i am going to use all different colour's such as green, pink, and orange so it still looks appealing either way. The title of my magazine is going to be live and the reason i chose this title for my magazine is because its going to be all about live music and up and coming bands playing at there shows. As the title links with what the magazine is about my audience will immediately know what is inside my magazine and whether they want to buy it therefore increasing in sales of my publication. Also this is a short title making it memorable.

Other magazines that are of the same style are NME and Rolling Stone.  Nme is owned by Time Warner Inc. In the magazine it represents mostly men and uses dull colours like black white and red. Rolling Stone is owned by Jann Wenner and also represents mainly men. This also uses dull colours like black and grey. I chose for my magazine to be both sex's and to give it a lot of colour because i wanted it to be different that current music magazine of today.  

college magazine research and planning

In my college magazine so far i have added a picture of a young male with tattoos across his chest. The background is a bright green colour so he as the image stands out and makes it eye catching.
I have simply named it COLLEGE as this is where it is going to be sold and what it is going to be about. The story's i have added around the edge include The big protest, exam stress, and a story to go with the main picture, about tattoo's. These story's relate to the target audience as they will be the people affected by the issues the most, for example exam stress, as there are exams coming up in January.
I have given my college magazine a more edgy look to attract more people to read the magazine and increase product sales as it makes it makes you want to read it because it looks interesting.
To create this front cover i shall be using Abobe InDesign CS5 and Adobe Photoshop CS5. I shall be using InDesign to structure the front cover and Photoshop to edit the images i use.