DoublePageSpreadFirstDraft

This is the double page spread that i have created as a final product. It is quite basic but affective as it does the job that it needs of showing the tour dates. I got this idea from a Kasabian one which is featured earlier on in my posts.

ContentsFirstDraft

This is the final product of the contents page with out any improvements. Obviously i feel there is room for improvement and hopefully my feedback will enable me to do this.

FrontCoverFirstDraft

This is my first attempt at my final product for my front cover. I took the picture myself and i feel the background shown is quit effetive and i have kept it as i feel sometimes when editing behind a person it can be shown as quite improfesional.

MockUp 2

This is the second mockup front cover that i have produced.

MockUp 1

This is the first mock up that I have created.

Price

When chosing the price of my magazine I will have to take different factors into account. Firstly how popular my magazine may become will defiinitely alter the price but as it will be going out as a new magazine the price will have to stay quite low for the time being. Also the price of competitors magazine will give me a better understanding of the pricing. The magazines that are on sale today are priced at around £2-£10. Obviously the higher the price the more the magazine will give the reader, and this may include free gifts. As my target audience is mainly for the student generation i need to make the magzine affordable. Also to go into consideration is the money that can be made and the price the magazine is sold at is am important factor to make sure I at least break-even. The price that i think my magazine will sell best at is £2.99. The reason for this is that it is roughly inbetween the two major rival magazines prices which I believe Q is at £3.90 and NME at £2.10.

TargetAudience

I need to make sure that i can decide on the perfect target audience as this is vital to if my magazine will do well or not. By knowing this i will be able to decide on the name of the magazine different types of fonts colours and images used to try and get their attention.

The target audience for the magzine is indie and mauinly for the teenage to mid thirties age group.

ColourSchemes

As i have now chosen my genre of magazine i need to choose a colour scheme that i will use through out the magazine including backgrounds mastheads and text colour. Here are some that i could use;

-Blue/Grey/Orange
-Blue/Orange/White
-Black/White/Yellow
-Black/Grey/White/Blue
-Brown/Orange
-White/Blue/Grey
-Black/Purple
-Grey/Black

I feel all of these colour varieties would work well with my indie magazine. Out of these options i am going to use the colour scheme Black/Grey/White/Blue.

MusicMagazineTHEME

Here are the list of the possible music themes that i could chose from:
Indie
Rock
Dance
Pop
Rap
Heavy Metal
R&B
DJ
Hardcore
Grunge

FinalDecision

I have now come to my final decision of font and also name of the music magazine. The font that i will use is Harabara. I like this font as it is simple but yet stylish and i think it works well with my magazine. The name of the magazine is Indie-pendence. The reason for this is because the magazine is based on indie music so i have used a pun in the title. Above is an image of the title in the font that is going to be used.

Planning;FONTS

These are a few of the possible fonts that i like which i may use in my final front cover masthead title.

FrontCoverLayout1

This is the first idea that i have thought of of how i am going to layout my magazine front cover.

Now i have finished my research and pre lims i am now beggining to start my planning stage. The genre that i have chosen for my magazine is Indie. Now i have chosen this i need to find name for my magazine. I am now going to create posts to show my ideas of what i am going to call my magazine and also how to lay it out.

Pre Lim contentspage.

This is my first pre lim contents page, it is very basic and like the fron cover has room for improvement.

Pre Lim front cover

This is my first pre lim that i have created. This was made with room for improvement if needed over the next few weeks.

MagazineDoublePageSpreadThree.

The first thing that catches my eye is the name of the band, (THE TEENAGERS) The reason it caught my eye is for the bright contrasting colour used on a large uppercase font. They have made this stand out so that the readers no who the article straightaway. The reason it is so big is so it catches your eye even when flicking through the magazine maybe before it has even been purchased. If you are interested in the band then you may notice the name when flicking through and in NME's case, hopefully buy the magazine.

The two pages combined have been split with half image and half text. You may not know that the two are connected but techniques have been used to link the two. Firstly the positioning of the name of the band is through the page break, although the word is broken it is still easy to read ,but the main reason it is like this is so it links the text with the image to show that they are all in together. Another way is the colour used, for all of the subheadings the same shade of electric blue is used and as this is consistently done over both pages. Because of this they look similar which shows that they are connected therefor you can relate the image with the text.
The image is presented in this way to relate to the type of band they are. The shot used is of the whole body so that you are able to sea full view of the band including how they dress and their characteristics of a relaxed laid back group of lads, which is very similar to an average teenager. In the bottom left corner of the image is a small 'need to know' box which includes quickfire facts all about the band for people who may never have heard of the band. Once again the same blue colour is used to link in with the rest of the page. The page has used a small font in slim and sophisticated columns. This is done to show minimal writing so that pictures dominate the page as these are more interested.

MagazineDoublePageSpreadTwo.

This is a double page spread showing all of the tour dates throughout the year for the band Kasabian. It is very bold and has been split up into three basic sections of a masthead text and image. Both the masthead and the textual information have been layered over the background of the image. They have made sure that they have not gone over the lead singer Tom Meighan as he is very important to the page. As his finger is pointing at the tour dates it makes you look in the direction he is pointing therefore you look at the tour dates and hopefullysee them live in concert.

MagazineDoublePageSpread.

This is the first double page spread that i am going to evaluate. It is from the magazine NME. The first thing that i noticed is that the image used has been displayed on the page by a full body shot and taking up 3/4 of it. The editor displayed it this way this way so that you can see each band member clearly and that none of their heads have been broken due to the page split. Also as the image dominates the page this will attract people who prefer to look at picture than to read. As the image looks very large compared to the text it makes the text look very small which hopefully will make the buyers read this article. I also noticed with the image that the lead singer is shown in bolder colours whereas the three other band members have been blended into the background. The reason for this is the article is all about the lead singer so he has been made to stand out the most.
Also i noticed that at the start of the text two bright arrows are pointing in the direction of the start. This is done as you automatically look in the direction that the arrows are pointing therefore makes you look at the text and hopefully read it.

ContentsPageResearchThree.

The first thing that your eyes are attracted to is the word contents. This is because the word is presented in a black box with contrasting yellow text. Also the font is larger than any other on the page and this is done to show waht the page is about.

Also in a smaller font there is the issue number and cover date this is to remind the reader what issue this is even though its been written on the front cover. The language used is informal and appears to be chatty. 'We heart Biffy Clyro' This is effective as it relates to the target target audience and comes acoross as though the reader and editor are in conversation.

The images used on the page makes it alot more attractive. This is good as it makes us look at the page as readers would rather look at images than text. The image have been presnted as cameos to give a small preview of what each story is about with out having to read anything.

The main form of the contents is on the rightt of the page and within that subheadings have been used to split each section up. This makes it much easier for the reader to find exactly what they want as each subheading is in a large, uppercase, yellow font to stand out.

In the right hand corner of the page there is a red box which tells you how to subscribe to the magazine and get it delivered to your door. It is presented in this bright red box to make it stand out so it will catch your eye and make you subscribe.

ContentsPageResearchTwo.

This is the contents page for a different style of magazine, VIBE. The main technique thing that stands out on the page is the image of the female artist Ciara. The way this attracts the attention is from the amount of flesh on show. The way her legs are positioned have been shaped into the letter 'V' which is the first letter of the magazine title. This also reminds us of the magazine that we are reading as there is no other mention of the magazine name on this page.

Secondly the masthead used has been uniquely split up into three sections to create the word contents. This may have been done to show that the magazine its self is unique in its own way. It is in large white contrasting letters to stand out but has been layerd behind the femal artist as she is more important. The clothes she is wearing are of a very similar tone to the background. This is done to try and blend her in so that all of the attention will be on the main part of the image that is her legs.

The font used in the text appears to be formal which links with the footwear of the image as she is wearing high heeled shoes. This show that the magazine is quite elegant. The text has created a frame around the artist to create all the atention to be on her. I can tell this has been done as the text on the left indents and mirrors the stance of the artists legs.

ContentsPageResearch.

This is the contents page of the magazine NME. The main image has been positioned in the centre of the page with all of the information around the edge. This creates a frame around the image to make it stand out and so all attention is aimed at the image.The font used is very large to stand out and to tell you that the page is going to tell you about what is in this weeks issue. None of the text has been positioned over the image apart from the caption at the bottom which clearly tells you what page to go to see the world’s greatest music venues.
They have used a very dull pale background so you would not think the readers would be attracted to this page but the bold subheadings split the page up very well into the different categories so people will stop to read this as it has been presented clearly.

Another technique used to make it easy for the reader to navigate through the magazine is an index on the left hand side of all the bands mentioned through out the issue. The writing used for this is red so that it stands out and the page numbers have been used in a different contrasting colour so that it is simply divided and easy to read.
The final thing is the bar along the bottom which presents to the reader how they can save money on their magazine. This is presented n a dark black box to contrast with the background. This will make people read this and also may make them sign up to their magazine which would mean more money for NME although customers think they are saving money.

MagazineResearchNumberThree.

For my third analysis i decided to choose a indie magazine called Q. As you can see the magazine name is very large and due to the contrasting bright colours it will immediately stand out from all of the other magazine titles when on the shelf. This is done so that the magazine gets looked at and is hopefully bought.
The main subject of the pages is of the Killers with a large image of their front man Brandon Flowers(BF). We can tell it is the killers due to the large block capital white letters which are infront of the main imgage. The reason the writing is white is so it contrasts with the dark black suit he is wearing.
The image is very striking and similar to the title i am sure it stands out from all of the other magazine images. This is because there is a medium close up of BF is staring outwards and he is pointing a finger which attracts your eyes as you feel he is looking and pointing at you. Also with the angry look on his face and the caption saying 'I am discusted', this makes you want to know why and will make you want to buy the magazine. Also the caption under neath the word KILLERS has a double meaning as it says 'BF makes his point' this shows it will tell you the reason for his anger but also why he is pointing his finger.

Another way of catching peoples eye is by using the word FREE in block red capitals. The reason this will catch people dont like spending mobey and love to get things for free. Especially if they are looking at music magazines it shows they are interested in music and as it is offering ways to get free music they will want to buy the magazine as they think they could save money.
The second story on the page is of U2. They have displayed the word U2 in very large lettering to stand out and if this catches their eye they will then look down to see there is a 27 page special all about them. As there are many U2 fans Q have put this story on their front cover so that if fans see this then there magazine is highly likely to be bought.

HouseStyleComparison.

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

House Style Comparison

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MagazineResearchNumberTwo.

The second magazine cover that i am going to evaluate is called VIBE. This magazine is aimed more towards people who are interested in hip hop.
The masthead is presented in a large uppercase black font to make it stand out to the readers. It is presented on a lighter background to make the word stand out.
The main image is a medium close up of a male artist 'R Kelly' which is slightly layered over the masthead. He is looking straight outwards so this catches the eye of readers as it appears that he is looking at you.
The text has been positioned around the singers head to create a frame which draws attention to him. The text used for this is red and black and these are the only two colours which are showing on the singer. This is his red top and his black skin and this makes it look very professional and well thought through. The second biggest font of the page is the singers name as this magazine will be including him over several pages through interviews and images. The reason it is so big is that it will catch the eye of his fans and other people who are interested in him.

Also there are two other words which are related to R Kelly due to the positioning of them on his body, these are written in yellow uppercase lettering to stand out from the other words. These are Innocent? and Guilty? These words are made to stand out as these two words create a sentence which people really want to find the answer to as he has yet to be trialed.

MagazineResearch.

This is the first music magazine cover that I have researched. I chose the magazine Rolling Stone as it is a very popular magazine that attracts the biggest most up to date artists.

There is just one image that has been used on the front cover, this is so that all eyes will be concentrated on JAY-Z as he is the main attraction of this issue. His head is layered over the masthead. This shows how big the magazine is as one of the biggest names in R n B is partly covering the their name and the magazine is still recognised. This technique proves their success it is continued in every issue.

The whole of the cover is set out using a masculine colour scheme of just four colours. The background colour is a bright white which allows a contrast with all of the other colours used and this makes it stand out.

All of the subheadings used are in block capital lettering and are layered over the image used. This is because it wants to catch the readers eye as these will become in the interest of the target audience. Personally I would say that this issue of the magazine is aimed at males because of the colours used and also the image. With the title aside, the word JAY-Z has been written in the biggest font size. This shows his importance and also is used to catch the eye of his fans who will want to know as much about him as they possibly can. The images used of him is very striking. The images has been used in this was to make people look at the magazine. It has done this by the angry expression on his face and the way his eyes are looking at the reader.

Intro.

Hello, my name is Harry Pickford and this is my media studies blog. In this blog i am going to be regularly posting blogs with all of my work. For my project i have decided to produce different sections of my own music magazine. Over the course of the project i will have to create a front cover a contents page and also a double page spread. For help with this i will be evaluating and comparing different magazines which will improve my own final project.