Magazine draft 2

Aims and Introductions

Aims and Introductions

After gathering information from my questionnaire (based on target audience) I gained a greater understanding of what people, aged between 14-18, want from the music magazine I am designing. Twelve out of the twenty people that answered my questionnaire were male; this does make it slightly biased. However it will not be too biased, which is a good thing because it means my questionnaire will be accurate for the majority. 

The age group I have chosen does however mean the magazine will have to be reasonably cheap and affordable.  The people that answered my questionnaire said they would be willing to pay between one and two pounds. I think this is a reasonable price for a magazine.

I looked at lots of different magazines to help me come up with a design for my magazine. I looked at different genres as I thought this would allow me to get a wide range of ideas; I looked at magazine such as Top of the Pops, Kerrang, NME and Rolling Stones. These magazines all use different colour schemes as well as using different layouts. This research gave me a wide range of possibilities to explore when creating my own magazine. The one I found most useful had to be Top of the Pops as it was relevant to my genre and my target audience. My magazine is also like Top of the Pops as it focuses on Chart music and the bigger names in the music industry.  This means my cover lines will be related to the charts and other big Pop artists. My main cover line is going to be about an artist’s raise to fame.

On my front cover I want to have a large central image of the artist in my main cover line. They will be standing in front of a white background. On the contents page I want to have a picture of a party or a gig, as I think this will be relevant and exciting. I will be using a photo of either a single male or a group of males as I am unsure if I want to focus on a single artist or an entire band. I want the model to be wearing popular and stylish clothes, such as chinos as these are very common among Pop artists. I want the white background for the photo on the front cover as this makes the image very pure it also means the colours will contrast and stand out.

My Front cover is going to be laid out in a quite an organised busy layout as I am going to have text surrounding the image but I am also going to have the cover lines in two neat columns, so although the page will be busy it will be laid out professionally. I think this will really appeal to my teenage audience as there is a lot to look at whilst still remaining mature.

My Contents page will be of a similar layout however, the text is going to be above and to the right of the image. This is because the image of the party/gig will not be central. I chose to do this because I wanted the contents page to have a different layout from the front cover, whilst still showing similarities.

My double page spread will have an entire page taken up by an image of the artist/band, with quotes from the artist/band scattered over the picture at random points. The other page will have questions and responses; I want this to be laid out in the formal and professional way of two columns running down the page. I am considering including some small image in the very centre of the page to break the text up a bit and make it look less heavy. This will be more fitting for the target audience.

I have chosen the title ‘Speed of Sound’ for my magazine as I thought including the word sound has a clear link to music. I also thought that the use of the word sound shows that the magazine quickly informs you about the latest music news. 

Production schedule

I have created the production schedule to help me plan my work and stay up to date. This will help me with my magazine cover, contents page and double page spread. This will help me to achieve my target and stick to deadlines. 

Task	Start date	End date
Drafting	22/11/12	22/11/12
Photo shoot one
Photo editing
Photo shoot two
Photo editing
Photo shoot three
Photo editing
Uploading chosen photos to blog
Producing designs for front cover
Inputting Photos
Inputting Text
Merging all elements together

Photo shoot locations mood board

Layout of front cover mood board

Double page spread mind map

Front cover mind map

Contents mind map

Questionnaire analysis

Questionnaire on music magazines

casual post

Just finished all of my textual analysis's, it was a lot effort!

Codes and Conventions of Magazines

Codes and Conventions of Magazines

The common codes and conventions on the front cover of a magazine include:

·         A Masthead (name of the magazine)

·         Cover lines

·         Main image (usually covering majority of the page, normally relevant to the main article)

·         Some form of advertisement

·         A barcode

The masthead will normally be located at the top of the page. The magazine tag line is normally found just above or just below the masthead. The main image will normally be at the centre of the page as it will be the relevant to the main cover line. The cover lines are normally surrounding the main image although they can sometime be on top of the main image itself. There is normally some form of offer or advertisement promoting the magazine and trying to encourage subscriptions.

Much like the cover pages, contents pages follow a set of codes and conventions that they all try to use in their own unique way. The usual layout for a contents page is:

·         Columns of information or page numbers

·         The magazines name will be at the top of the page

·         Will normally have a similar colour scheme to the front cover

·         Information about the magazine, maybe an editors story

·         A main image usually related to the main article.

All magazines will have similar codes and conventions on the Front cover and their contents page. This is because they try to keep the theme of the magazine going through out. People will stereotype the magazine on the way it is laid out as well as what is in it. The different colours, text and images will affect the sorts of readers that read the magazine.

The three different categories for codes are; Technical, symbolic and written codes.

Technical Codes: Normally to do with the photographing of an image, this includes Framing, the depth of field, lighting and exposure.

Symbolic Codes: This is to do with what the objects within the magazines connote. For example colour, clothing and body language.

Written Codes: This is to do with the language that is used and the affect that it has upon the reader. 

Understanding Genre in Music Magazines

Understanding Genre in Music Magazines

In music magazine colour, image, language and font are all affected massively by the genre of the magazine. There a different genres of music; Emo, Punk, Indie, Rock, Heavy Metal and Goth are the ones we will be discussing. These genres each have their own stereotype about their music and the artists that produce it. These stereotypes represent how people assume the fans and musicians of these genres act and look like.

Emo is the genre with the strongest opinion on stereotype. They are typically seen as wearing all black and dark colours, along with having abstract hair styles. The musicians and fans are considered to be depressed. The image to the left is what the public consider most Emos to dress and look like. As you can see they are all wearing black shirts and all have unique hairstyles. This image is of “medium level Emos” as some are wearing lighter colours as well. There is some controversy between the likeness and similarities between Emos and Goths, however each have their separate genres despite this. The general expectation of the music produced by this genre is that the music will be sad and depressing. Lots of Emo styled music magazines play on this stereotype and use darker colours in their magazine. They will also use deep and meaning full language and will try to stick away from cheesy puns and jokes. The images used will be related to the artist’s music, their past or simply an image them now. This styling of the musicians, fans and magazines are what give the public the Emo stereotype.

Indie is another genre of music that has its own stereotypes attached to it. For example the unusual mix of jeans, a shirt and blazer contrast as jeans are seen as casual wear and the other two are seen as smart attire. Indie music is sometimes considered to sound electronic however it can also be seen as sounding almost like the genre country. This is down to the wide range of instruments used throughout the genre. This together causes the stereotype around the genre Indie to be weak and broad as there are different types of Indie. This genre focuses greatly on the fashion associated with the music, so when you say Indie the first thing some people think of is the look. Magazines will use this idea of Indie fashion and the model on the front cover will be an Indie artist dressed in this style. The colours on the magazine will be of a wide variety however they will not be too bright. The modernised rustic look the stereotypical Indie models is fitting to their music as the music can be described as modern country as well as country electric depending on what part of the Indie spectrum you look at.  

Heavy Metal in some ways has many similarities in stereotypes to Emo and Rock; they all focus on black clothing and tend to have long or unusual hairstyles. The reason Heavy Metal has many links to Rock is because it is actually considered to have sprouted from Rock. The common perception of the public is that Heavy metal music and fans are angry and trying to spur a musical revolution. There has been many different influential Heavy Metal bands over time that have changed the way it is perceived each making the Heavy metal scene different. Heavy Metal magazines tend to have a wide target audience as Heavy Metal is a genre that is recognised by people of all ages as it is one of the older genres we have looked at. The mastheads will tend to be jagged and may even take on the shape of the name of the main band this issue is looking at.  Much like the Emo genre magazines Heavy metal magazines focus on colours like black, red and white.

There are many stereotypes in the music industry; this is because of the hundreds of different genres within the music industry. Each genre has its individual stereotype because of the way the artists and fans behave, as well as the type of music they create. An iconic figure with in a genre can set a trend in not only music but fashion. Fashion is one of the main features of stereotypes.

Mix Mag analysis front cover

Mix mag magazine is a popular clubbing and dance music magazine. The articles within the magazine are written about a very small category of music/bands. This means that is has a very specific target audience.

The Masthead is written in lower case this is to make it seem as though it is flowing and make it seems as though it is one unified word. It is bold and the font is much larger than most of the cover lines on the page, this makes it stand out. The magazine includes a tag line above the main masthead, this tag line says, ’the world’s biggest dance music and clubbing magazine’. This is included on the front cover because the magazine wants to show off that it is considered better than other magazines of the same genre.  

The main cover line on this page is the name of a DJ, Sub focus, to people who do not know who this artist is will not have much idea what that cover line means. This is another example of how this magazine is aimed at a specific genre. However the cover line does have other smaller cover lines beneath it giving more information about the main cover line. These cover lines explain that it is a ten page special edition, about the artist. However the fact that these cover lines are much smaller than the main cover line shows us that they feel that this artist is quite famous within the target audience and his name will be enough to draw them into buying this magazine.

The main image is a picture of the artist in the cover lines, this emphasises the point I made earlier that the target audience will recognise the artist and be drawn in by this image. The image has been edited so it looks blurry this is because his is fitting to the genre of music he produces. The blurred image connotes being disorientated this in turn is seen as a feeling people can get whilst clubbing which is the genre of this magazine.

The magazine includes a free CD of the artists work; this is to encourage people to buy the magazine so they can get the CD. The CD increases the value of the magazine and will increase the readers want for this magazine. The CD also gives readers who have not heard any of Sub focus’ music a taste of the type of music he produces. So this is good publicity for the artist.

The colours used on this page are faded and could be considered dull. This is in order to make the cover lines stand out against the main image and the background. The cover lines are surrounded by a variety of bold colours, this makes very obvious against the background.

This magazine has a very unique style to many other music magazines, making it stand out above the other magazines even though it does not use many bright colours. The target audience of this magazine is older teenagers and young adults. This is obvious because of the genre and style of the magazine. 

Double page spread 5

Double page spread 4

double page spread 3

Double page spread 2

Double page spread 1

Textual analysis of Rolling Stones magazine

Textual analysis of Rolling Stones magazine

The Model, Robert Downey JR, has been photographed rather close up. The image includes his face and shoulders. As the photo is close up, we see his facial features and expressions very clearly. From his eyes and slight frown, Robert looks intrigued and quite sad about something.

The main image is usually what will catch the audience’s attention to begin with as it is what takes up the majority of the front cover. If people are curious to find out what has made Robert look intrigued in the photo. They would carry on reading the cover lines. The biggest cover line reads “To Hell and Back with Robert Downey JR.” This cover line will insinuate to the audience that Robert is at a time in his life that has not been easy for him (hence the word ‘Hell’ being written with a capital letter for emphasis). This cover line has clearly linked with the photo as the stubble on Robert’s face could signify the ‘rough’ time that he has been through.

The intrigued look in Robert’s eyes could be because he is looking for somebody to help him, or he’s curious what his life will be like now that he has been to hell and back.

The colours of the text around the sides of the magazine are all substantially plain and dull. This has been done purposefully to create emphasis on the main image. Robert is wearing orange a bright, bold colour that makes him stand out from the text surrounding him.

The masthead ‘RollingStone’ is made up of three colours: Black, grey and white. Although these are rather plain colours, the way that they have been arranged makes it look as though the masthead is in 3D effect, it makes the reader notice which magazine they are looking at, creating a better chance of the name sticking in their head for future purchases.

The layout of the cover lines, masthead and boxed in writing causes no obstruction in the viewing of Robert Downey JR’s face. The text is all neatly placed around Robert so that you can see everything you need to for example facial expressions.

The target audience for this magazine would be an older generation as the price, at £3.50, is quite high for people who are younger and may not earn as much. Also, there is boxed in text that speaks about a campaign which could also be aimed at an older age group who may be more interested, they may also have more of an interest in politics and ‘how the democrats can blow it’.

As we, Robert Downey JR is not the youngest celebrity around and he often appears in films that may appeal to an older generation who would then be encouraged to buy this magazine if they are a fan. Slang terms are usually used amongst teenagers and this magazine speaks rather formally, possibly not attracting the younger audience as much a magazine which uses slang may do.

Contents analysis

Contents Q magazine

Contents analysis Kerrang

Mixmag contents page

Top of the Pops contents page

Textual analysis of Kerrang magazine

Textual analysis of Kerrang magazine

I am going to be analysing the cover of Kerrang magazine. There are many things to look at when analysing a magazine cover firstly the Layout, the colour, the target audience and the main image.

Firstly the layout of this magazine is very busy; there is lots of cover lines surrounding the main image as well as lots of smaller images, each with their own caption or cover line. The main image also has text incorporated into it; this is because it relates to the image itself. The cover also includes lots of colours which also add to the busy affect which this cover produces.

Although the there is only 5 main colours on the page it appears as though there is a lot more because of all the images and the way the text is all around the page. The colours denote the genre of music that this music is about, the genre is rock. The red and the black are very often used by rock bands and artists. The yellow has been chosen because it contrasts with the other colours making the magazine stand out.

The model and the other images that include artists and band are all rock artists and will mainly appeal to a younger audience; this is the main target audience for this magazine. Most of the bands on the front cover include younger people; however there are older bands and band members on there too. This could encourage people of an older age to purchase this magazine as well. The use of colours and the way they contrast on the page is a good indication of the target audience for this magazine. 

The dark and light colours together suggest that this is magazine is for fans of Rock and Alternative Rock, as well as being roughly in their teenage years. The magazine offers 7 posters which are normally associated with teenagers and the sorts of things they put on their wall, this is another indicator of the target audience of this magazine.

The mast head of a magazine is normally the largest and most obvious part of a magazine cover. However this magazine covers part of the mast head with the main image, this could be off putting for non regular buyers of this magazine as they may not be able to see the title of the magazine. The mast head is also surrounded by cover lines, meaning that once again the importance of the title of the magazine is undermined by the sub main cover lines. The cover lines often include two colours this is to highlight the most important part about each article, this is important as the magazine is busy and the reader would not be able to figure this out at a glance if they were not in different colours. 

The magazine uses a lot of rhetorical questions on the cover because they make the audience think about the article for example, ‘What are Paramore shocked at?’ The audience where not thinking this until they were asked the question which encourages them to want to read the article. The cover also uses exclamation marks, these are used to emphasize the importance of this cover line, as well as showing excitement about the article or offer.

I would say the overall style of the Kerrang magazine is very busy and is aimed at teenagers and Rock fans for its target audience. But I do also feel that the older bands could attract an older audience. I think as a whole the magazine cover works well and is very good at communicating its genre and general intentions.

Textual analysis of Rolling Stones

Textual analysis of Rolling Stones

I am going to be analysing the front cover of the rolling stones magazine. There are many things to look at when analysing a magazine cover firstly the Layout, the colour, the target audience and the main image.

Firstly, the layout, the cover has the mast head running across the top of the page; this means regular customers will see the magazines title straight away. The main cover line is also at the top of the page as this will be the first story the publishers of the magazine will want to the audience to see. The other cover lines are all in on one side of the page this makes for a much organised and very formal.

The target audience of this magazine can be deciphered by looking at all of the things that make up the front cover. For example, as mentioned before the layout of the text and main image is important. In the case of this magazine the well organised cover lines all on one side in a neat list suggest that this magazine is for an older more mature target audience. The main image is a close of Adele’s face, who is a singer whose music appeals to all ages meaning this image will cause the magazine to catch the eyes of people of all ages.

The close up of Adele shows her pouting this and looking at the camera this gives the magazine a friendly and flirtatious feel to it. The pose she is pulling also reflects Adele’s type of music which often involves love between her and her ex partners. Adele is a pop/soul artist which means that this main image will help to encourage people of who like this genre of music to buy the magazine.

This magazine has used its cover lines in a way in which they show the main part of the story in white and a bit of background information in yellow. For example ‘The triumph of Adele’ is one of the main cover lines on this page. Adele is in big bold writing, this is obviously to draw attention to her name and the writing is in white because she is the main point in this story. ‘The triumph’ is written in yellow this is because it is just giving you a rough idea as to what this article is about but it is not as vital as Adele’s name so it is smaller and in a more discrete colour.

Obviously the artist or the song names are deemed most important and the thing the writers want the audience to read first, to try and capture their attention. As well as this the cover lines are no larger than 6 words meaning they are easy to read at a quick glance meaning the target audience will see be able to read them without even intending to, causing people to get drawn into buying the magazine they originally had no intention of purchasing.

The overall style of this magazine is quite formal and mature, which will appeal to an older audience. Although because of the subject topics in the cover lines and the model in the main image, it will still attract a younger audience as well. So this means that it has a wide audience range. The front page is quite neat and there isn’t a lot of text covering the page, although the main image is large and is a very close up shot, this means the cover can look quite busy, but I think this works well along its well organised format.