Music Magazine Front Cover Draft

This one has conventional magazine features such as a bar code, issue no, dateline, masthead, Smaller feature, subtitle, Main Feature: Headline and Image.

In this draft cover I have experimented with a different main image and background. The colour of the font doesn't work as well against this background, but the red typeface still stands out.

In this draft cover I have experimented with the name of the magazine and the Masthead as a whole. I changed the font and the size of the text to see what works better.

I have experimented with a different main image in this draft cover. This makes the model look more vulnerable as if we are looking down on her. This is to link with the idea of Alice in Wonderland and her being a vulnerable young lady susceptible to daydreaming.

Photoshop Practice

This is the image I was given to edit, as you can see she has a lot of blemishes and spots on her skin that can be taken away through editing on Photoshop to make the image look more professional for a print publication.

This is an after image to show how I have used photoshop to enhance an image. By making the model's skin blemish-free, adjusting the layers of the photo by putting a dark and light layer underneath and adjusting the opacity it makes her skin look flawless and porcelain-like. The image is now more suitable to use for a print publication.

Magazine Outline

This is the idea that I have for the outline of my music magazine, I will carry on to add a main feature photo and background. This contains a Masthead, bar code, main feature headline and a smaller feature. A left third could be added as this is a very common convention of a magazine's front cover.

Creating a Draft Front Cover in Photoshop

I started by opening up a new document Photoshop in A4 size to match the Brief of my Portfolio.

I then opened up an image in Photoshop for my background this will take up the whole size of the A4 so when I add it to my background layer I will select Edit>Transform>Scale in order to make it fit the whole of the background.

I have opened up my chosen image in Photoshop to enable me to edit the photo appropriately.

I have cut around the model in my chosen photo as I have already chosen another background for my image.

I have copied the layer of my photo so that I have a back-up copy of the photo or if I erase part of the photo there will still be one there.

This print screen shows the photo of my model against the background I have chosen. One thing that is wrong with this image as a final version is that the image of the model is quite jagged around the edge where I have cut her out from her original background.

In this image I have added a Masthead and my main feature headline, through creating this draft idea I wanted to experiment with using an alternative background to the one that was in the original photograph.

In this draft idea I have used a different image against a different background in the same way I had previously created the other draft idea. I chose the idea of her lying among the flowers, because it represents her daydreaming and that is how Alice ended up in wonderland. It also fits with the idea that wonderland isn't real and is therefore far more beautiful than our reality.

This front cover features a bar code, a conventional feature of a magazine, this is to keep track of how many are sold. I chose the name of the magazine "Sway" because it is a well known song, but after researching the roots of the song I have found that it was originally Spanish and has more of a mambo rhythm and therefore not suitable for my music genre.

The colour of the text doesn't work against this background. The masthead is more visible, but the main headline isn't and that can potentially sell a magazine if it has a good anchorage to go with it.

 This is another idea for the title of my magazine "Jive." This has more connotations associated with the jazz genre of music. I have also changed the font to Cambria and the colour to a brighter red to make it more eye-catching. The quote from the article acts as a subtitle/sell line for the main feature. I chose to put it in italics to separate it from the main text.

This print screen of the layers in Photoshop shows how I have used an outre glow effect on my main feature headline I did it red to keep within the house style that I have created.

Music Magazine Barcode

I used http://www.barcodesinc.com/ to create this barcode for my magazine it incorporates the issue number and price features, all are conventional features of a magazine. I have to price my magazine at £3.40 after researching the average price of magazines. Also my magazine is a monthly and is aimed at mainly women in ABC1, therefore I think this is a reasonable price for my magazine.

Initial Ideas

I chosen to do a music magazine within the genre of jazz and have started to think of several ideas for a name for my jazz music magazine, some I came up with by using a Thesaurus  to generate alternative words for Jazz:

• Dixieland
• Bebop
• Blues
• Boogie
• Boogie-woogie
• Bop
• Fusion jazz
• Hot jazz
• Improvisational music
• Jive
• Ragtime
• Swing
• All That Jazz (well-known jazz influenced song from the musical Chicago)
• Sway (famous song)
• The Jazz Singer (a old "talkie" film from 1927)
• HHR (Hot Honey Rag) - (well-known jazz influenced song from the musical Chicago)

Jazz Musicians
Louis Armstrong
Chuck Mangione
Tony Bennett
Pat Boone
Nat King Cole
Perry Como
Michael Buble
Ella Fitzgerald
Billie Holiday


The idea for the band to be called "White Rabbit" symbolises a reference to the past they are a jazz band heavily influenced by the past and the things that take them back to the height of jazz. Just like the white rabbit in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland leads Alice into the world that she dreams of. The band White Rabbit takes the lead vocalist into an era where jazz was sensationally popular.

I looked at this image when trying to think of what I wanted my front cover to look like. I love the use of colour and how her red hair and fair complexion really draw you into her making a striking image.

I liked this image as an inspiration for an Alice in Wonderland style photo. She looks well-dressed, but is stood in the middle of a wood suggesting that she is lost in another place just like Alice was.

In this image I like the use of excessive flowers and how they potentially dominate the room and a majority of the image, but despite this you are still drawn to her clothing which is what the image is promoting.

Institution

I think my magazine will appeal to Condé Nast, because they don't currently have a Music Magazine publication. They are also an American based company which is where jazz music became incredibly popular during the 1920's and 30's. They don't currently have a magazine which is centred around music, but they do have GQ which a men's lifestyle magazine which focuses on culture for men through factors such as music. GQ has a recent circulation figure of 980,254, with a median age of 33 and 83% aged 18 - 49 (2011.)  Condé Nast produce high-end, stylish magazines in the shape of Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, W and Glamour. They were established in 1909 and in 1919 they were the first publishing house to produce international editions - with Vogue being published in the UK. They have since grown and publish international editions of their magazines across the globe, like Vogue for example in Russia, America, UK, France and Italy etc. They have been an established publishing house for over 100 years and continue to grow and thrive in the industry, they launched their newest publication, style.com, last year. They are located on Madison Avenue, New York.

Ideology

The Jazz Singer promotes the consumption of a new age of jazz music, produced mainly by young women who are mainly about "the voice" with little materialistic features needed in order to promote themselves (e.g. Adele) to an audience made-up of a majority of employed women. It aims to promote the music into the mainstream. It aims to set the trends among young women interested in something as popular as pop music in the mainstream, but with a quirky jazz edge to it. Such artists like Paloma Faith who aim to make their own trends and their own music, but still have it accepted into the mainstream are likely to feature in a magzine like what I have produced.

My magazine does not feature artists that defy social-norms and does not promote rebellion, as it promotes glamour while still promoting the independence of women being able to produce their own music that hasn't always played a huge role in the conventional music industry. It also doesn't have any explicit political associations, but promotes women having their own personal opinions and being able to be different.

My magazine is commercially aware by featuring VIP tickets to London's jazz festival, showing how they are likely to be in a commercial deal with them and promoting their festival though the giving away of tickets and advertising the festival itself by mentioning it. This suggests to the readers that if the magazine you like features it, then you are likely to enjoy it yourself.

Audience

For my music magazine I have chosen to represent the genre of jazz. For this genre of music I believe that my audience will be dominated by a niche audience of fans of jazz music. I have aimed my magazine at a predominant audience of women aged 24 - 40. I think it will appeal to those who like fashion, shopping, socialising and getting dressed-up. I think it will appeal to those who have interests outside of the mainstream, they generally enjoy music and spend a fair amount on the artists that they like and enjoy listening to live jazz music. Their tastes generally stay the same and the music is another way of them expressing their personality. As this magazine appeals to a mainly niche audience i.e. only a small number - jazz is likely to be their favourite genre.

Although it is a high-fashion magazine, I have researched the audience profile of Vogue UK magazine, as I aimed to promote my music publication within a similar audience bracket. Their readers consist of 89% women and 11% male and 70% of their recent circulation figures (circa. 2011 210,806) are ABC1, with 34% AB. They really do appeal and promote to a high-earning readership. In a similar way InStyle has a 90% women readership 35% are aged 35 - 54 and 72% earn $50,000+ every year. Mojo magazine aims to appeal to a more older audience, as they promote classic rock and their 211,000 readership has a median age of 37 and 66% are ABC1 (circa Dec 2010.)

Double Page Spread - LIIAR Analysis

L - This double page spread uses a drop caps, a pull-out quotation, several splashes and graphic features, as well as a main feature headline, columns, a fact-file feature, a subtitle and they also have a small masthead at the bottom promoting their website. The main colour in this spread is blue with white and black , they are all conventional colours. The font size is used in an appropriate way, with the largest for the headline, something marginally smaller used for the main body text and something slightly bigger for the pull-out quote and drop caps. This gives the spread features that stand-out, also the quote is used to provide the reader with part of the text that will draw them in and make them want to read the whole article. This layout has created a house-style through the continuous use of blue, black, white and consistent font. There are six photos used within this spread, a main long shot, three smaller features consisting of a long shot, mid-shot and medium close-up and also a close-up face photo. The main photo shows the artists looking directly at the camera, thus engaging with the reader, whereas the other photos are there to promote other smaller features within the spread.

I - NME (New Musical Express) is a British Publication published by IPC Media, a British Company, they are very successful and are known as the UK’s leading consumer magazine publisher. NME has been a weekly magazine since March 1952 and they now currently reach over 1,000,000 music fans a week through their various media texts. Originally published by IPC Magazines Ltd which was taken over by Time Inc. in 2001. IPC  became an established publishing house in 1963. They are based in London and produce over 60 iconic media brands including Marie Claire, LOOK, InStyle and Nuts. They reach their intended audience in a variety of ways through http://www.nme.com/, NMETV, NME Radio and the brand’s live events and awards. They now have a 59 year heritage. The total circulation (ABC1) of NME from January – June 2011 was 29,020. This magazine is national across Britain. When it started out it was considered the British equivalent of Billboard, because it established the first UK singles chart in 1952.

I - The New Musical Express is a weekly music magazine, it aims to promote the bands that are yet to chart and tries to be one step ahead of popular culture mainstream music. They consider themselves “a must for right-thinking music fans.” The magazine has typical conventions of a magazine such as main feature headline, some element of the masthead on the double page spread, drop-cap, a pull-out quotation, several splashes and graphic features, columns, a fact-file feature and a subtitle. They use a fact-file feature to convey to the audience that the band have some facts that the reader needs to know about them and they have made t compact so the information is easily accessible. It doesn’t have political associations, but they do favour a style of Gonzo journalism throughout their magazine. Their stylistic articles give them point if view to talk from and give them the potential to gain consumers. They have used a fairly unknown band in this double page spread and those who haven’t heard of them are likely to purchase if they have a preference for the genre of music that NME publish. They are associated with the punk-rock genre of music, which isn’t particularly mainstream but has become more popular over the years potentially suggesting that NME set trends rather than following them.

A - The audience of this magazine is predominantly British people of a median of 25. 70% Men and 30% Women. The magazine also has more of a rebellious ideology, which would suggest that it isn’t for the more mature generation and is aimed more at young adults. NME mainly cover up-and-coming artists that fit the genre of punk/rock/alternative/indie music and don’t feature extremely well-known artists on their front cover advertising their “Greatest Hits”, because it doesn’t fir their ideology. An issue of NME usually costs approximately £2.30 and has an issue out weekly, which explains why a majority (57%) of their readers are of the A-C1 socio-economic groups.

R - They have used a mid shot of the band, with the model in the middle looking directly at the camera. Due to this the audience can assume that he is the lead singer and front man. The other two members of the band aren't looking directly at the camera they are just lying on the bed, thus portraying them as laid-back and casual. By the attitudes that are represented they will attract the typical teenager, hence being called The Teenagers, as they are the stereotypical layabouts. With his hand behind his head, the lead singer looks very “at-home” and relaxed suggesting to the audience that they are very comfortable with their potential success and media coverage. They connote to the reader that they are laid-back and down-to-earth, appealing to the readers that like that attitude, rather than them being pretentious and thinking they are greater than they are when they have just started out therefore readers, like those of NME, will determine whether they will be successful if they buy their records.

Contents Page - LIIAR Analysis

L – This contents page has conventional  features such as a house style, several images depicting the smaller features. Also there is a main feature headline and an image to go with it, a splash and conventional colours such as yellow, white and black are used. The typeface is a sans serif font which is  typical for most music magazine , making the text easily readable and bold. The splashes are used to draw attention to those feature and make the reader jump to those stories first. They are then likely to see more features and adverts that appeal to them as they flick through, because most main feature articles are nearer to the back of a magazine.

I – Kerrang is published by Bauer Media Group, a large publishing company based in Hamburg, Germany.  Bauer Media reach over 19,000,000 adults across the U.K. through multiple media channels. They own other magazine brands such as: Grazia, More, FHM, Heat, Q and Empire. Along with their magazine brands they also own several radio channels for example Kerrang radio, Kiss 100 and Heat along with numerous local radio stations. It is a worldwide media empire with over 300 magazines in 15 countries along with their radio (with 1.3 million listeners they are the biggest commercial radio station outside London), TV and online accessibility. When the brand started they were devoted to the new wave of British rock music and in 2000s they were the bestselling British music newspaper.

I – Kerrang are the biggest weekly music in the world and have a 31 year history. Their main aim is to produce a magazine dominated by music and mainly of the rock/alternate genre. They aim for their brand to appeal to a wide spectrum of readers and with their audience dominated by such a young audience they try to appeal to their taste in several sub-genres of rock for example; emo and thrash. They describe themselves as appealing to “Young, individually minded and passionate consumers, an audience defined by attitude, passion and loyalty.” They aim to appeal to people from their magazine, TV, radio station, Kerrang.com, Kerrang Awards and Kerrang Tour. They aim to be less conventional than the mainstream and aim keep up with the current trends of rock music and have featured mainly artists that defy the social norms.

A – The audience of this magazine are predominantly made up of 17 – 24 year olds with a median age of 22. As of January – June 2010 they had reached a circulation figure of 44,013 ABC. 52% of their audience fit the ABC1 profile. Kerrang is also mainly reaching out to the younger, more elusive market this is a huge advantage for them as they are usually expensive to reach and it means they can also advertise films, games, mobile technology and specific government messages on the pages of their magazine. The audience of this magazine tend to be the people that immerse themselves in the music and mainly rock with 87% buying every issue. Kerrang’s readers are huge music consumers , on average, purchasing over 6 albums a month(53% more than the national average) they are also 8 times more likely to spend over £200 a year on albums. These readers are also 5.5 times more likely to attend a rock gig.

R – The denotations of this contents page are the yellow and black font, 2 main large images, 5 smaller images and a yellow splash. This connotes an eye-catching image with the yellow flash and the font is eye-catching as the yellow contrasts with the black and links in with the house style of the magazine. The larger images suggest that these are the lead features and the smaller images are smaller features. The quote used invites the reader to learn more. The font on the right side of the page is sans serif and the images dominate, however because of the use of yellow the features still stand out. The flash is advertising more features, a competition, and stands out well to draw in the attention.  The background is white so there aren’t too many colours and it keeps the focus on the features. This contents page is good because it stays with the house style of the rest of the magazine, I also think it is in keeping with the genre of music it advertises. The layout used makes it easily understandable.

NME - Magazine Conventions and LIIAR Analysis

 

L – This issue of NME showcases a wide variety of magazine conventions such as dateline, Masthead, sell line, teaser, smaller features, kicker, teller, colour scheme, graphic, subtitle and Main Feature: Headline and Image. For the main image they haven’t used a conventional medium close-up shot, but all four band members look directly at the camera therefore engaging with the audience. This cover does maintain a house style with the use of fonts and colours. The red typeface really makes the cover stand out with the contrast of a neutral main image.

I - NME (New Musical Express) is a British Publication published by IPC Media, a British Company, they are very successful and are known as the UK’s leading consumer magazine publisher. NME has been a weekly magazine since March 1952 and they now currently reach over 1,000,000 music fans a week through their various media texts. Originally published by IPC Magazines Ltd which was taken over by Time Inc. in 2001. IPC  became an established publishing house in 1963. They are based in London and produce over 60 iconic media brands including Marie Claire, LOOK, In Style and Nuts. They reach their intended audience in a variety of ways through http://www.nme.com/, NMETV, NME Radio and the brand’s live events and awards. They now have a 59 year heritage. The total circulation (ABC1) of NME from January – June 2011 was 29,020. This magazine is national across Britain. When it started out it was considered the British equivalent of Billboard, because it established the first UK singles chart in 1952.

I – The New Musical Express is a weekly music magazine, it aims to promote the bands that are yet to chart and tries to be one step ahead of popular culture mainstream music. They consider themselves “a must for right-thinking music fans.” The magazine has typical conventions of a magazine such as a dateline, price, issue number, main feature: headline and image. Some typical features are missing such as: left third. It aims to be more controversial than mainstream, one reader described it as being “damn honest." It doesn’t have political associations, but they do favour a style of Gonzo journalism throughout their magazine. Their stylistic articles give them point if view to talk from and give them the potential to gain consumers. They have used a fairly well-known band on their front cover, but they do defy the social norms and do come from an disadvantaged background. “Knife fights!” is part of the subtitle suggesting that there is potential rebellion and violence in their past. By having Kings of Leon their fan base are most likely to buy the magazine and also people who liked their last album will buy it to hear more about their “New album.” Those who haven’t heard of them are likely to purchase if they have a preference for the genre of music that NME publish. They are associated with the punk-rock genre of music, which isn’t particularly mainstream but has become more popular other the years potentially suggesting that NME set trends rather than following them. With punk-rock stereotypically comes rebellion, Kings of Leon represent that with their long hair, facial expression and slightly “just-rolled-out-of-bed” look.

A - The audience of this magazine is predominantly British people of a median of 25. 70% Men and 30% Women. The magazine also has more of a rebellious ideology, which would suggest that it isn’t for the more mature generation and is aimed more at young adults. NME mainly cover up-and-coming artists that fit the genre of punk/rock/alternative/indie music and don’t feature extremely well-known artists on their front cover advertising their “Greatest Hits”, because it doesn’t fir their ideology. An issue of NME usually costs approximately £2.30 and has an issue out weekly, which explains why a majority (57%) of their readers are of the A-C1 socio-economic groups.

R – They have used fairly neutral image to contrast with the red, black and white typeface giving it a bold image, it also gives the main picture more dominance. It also connotes the idea that they will “come clean” in the interview. They look directly at the audience engaging with potential readers. They are portrayed as quite relaxed through the use of neutral colours, but serious connoting that they are comfortable with who they are and their music, but take their career seriously. They haven’t chosen to look like anyone else they want to be original and known as Kings of Leon not “those guys who copied off someone else’s image.”

Rolling Stone - Magazine Conventions and LIIAR Analysis

L - This front cover features conventional elements such as a Skyline, Masthead, Main Image, Main Feature: Headline, Subtitle, Splash and the dateline, price and Issue No. All of the features, but one, are black and white in colour - this creates a bold image. The Masthead is in a contrasting yellow which will make it stand out more on the newsstands. Rolling Stone is written in a sans-serif font which is typical for headlines, whereas the smaller features and subtitle are more of a serif font which is more conventional for body text. This photo of Madonna is a medium-close up and she looks directly at the camera, engaging with the audience.

I - Rolling Stone is published by Wenner Media LLC. An American publishing company co-founded by Jann Wenner (still the editor, owner and publisher of the magazine) and Ralph J. Gleason in 1967, San Francisco although they have now moved office to New York City. Wenner Media LLC also publishes Men's Journal and Us Weekly. The total circulation of Rolling Stone in December 2010 was 1,453,158. This magazine goes international and is available in Britain. There are also 20 other versions of the magazine published all over the world, there currently isn’t a British version but many state NME as being just as influential in this country.

I - Rolling Stone is a political and music biweekly. Rolling Stone magazine expresses vintage values. The magazine has typical conventions of a magazine such as a dateline, price, issue number, main feature: headline and image. Some typical features are missing such as: left third. It aims to be more controversial than mainstream it describes it self as being "the pulse of youth culture." It has political associations on the front cover there is a splash mentioning “Obama vs. the General.” They pride themselves over this story as it gave them 9.5 million page views on Rollingstone.com within 48 hours of them posting the story online. Their political views give them a point if view to talk from and could potentially gain consumers.  Gracing the front cover of Rolling Stone magazine has long been a prestigious honour among music artists.I believe that Rolling Stone magazine represents itself as being a rather prestigious magazine, they don’t have to put a lot on the their front cover in order for people to buy it, which is a bold statement. They don’t need to tease there audience too much as they are already well-known through their risqué photo shoots in the past. They must rely on word of mouth and advertising for people to know more about them. By using Madonna on their front they represent themselves as only having the best on their front cover. They have used a very popular, established artist on purpose as they know that her fan base will buy the magazine, which means a vast amount of people.

A - The audience of this magazine is predominantly Americans of the ages 18 - 49. 57% Men and 43% Women. The magazine also has political associations, which would suggest that it isn’t for anyone much younger than 18 and is aimed more at adults. The average age of their audience is 32. Rolling Stone mainly cover mainstream artists that have extremely successful and they don’t normally feature up and coming artists on their front cover. Actors and other famous personalities feature as well, not just music artists. An issue of Rolling Stone usually costs around £4 and has an issue out twice a month which explains why a majority of their readers are employed (69%) and suggests it is more for the A-C of socio-economic groups.

R – They have used a black and white photo to create a retro look this links in with the Main Feature Headline: Madonna Looks Back. This cover is quite bare and stripped back, which gives the main picture more dominance. It also connotes the idea that she will “bare all” in the interview, as it doesn’t have a subtitle for the Main Feature Headline it just says the “Rolling Stone interview.” The shot of Madonna is over-the-shoulder and also a Dutch tilt, this makes her look more vulnerable and exaggerates the shot making it look as though she is in a vulnerable, uneasy position and the interviewer and we as readers have the power over her. The front cover doesn’t contain many features compared with other magazines this suggests that they rely on their name “Rolling Stone” to sell itself. They use yellow for the Masthead which is quite a commonly used colour for this convention, but makes it stand out from the rest of the front cover. Everything else on the front cover is black and white, which is bold in itself, but the splash of one colour makes it stand out even more.

Billboard - Magaine Conventions and LIIAR Analysis

 

 

L – This magazine front cover holds conventional features such as colour theme and consistent font, creating a house style. There is also the skyline, masthead, teaser, smaller features, subtitle, Main feature: headline and image. The shot used is not a conventional medium close-up, but a medium shot. The cover is predominantly white against red and black font and blue and yellow splashes within the letters of the masthead (these are conventional colours for a magazine). Adele’s hair is an auburn colour which puts more focus on her as it stands out. The text for all the smaller features is all the same font (sans serif) and in black creating a house style, whereas the main feature headline “Adele” is in a serif font which holds more romantic and girly connotations. The main image shows Adele in a mid-shot – showing part of the subject whilst still giving an impression of the whole subject.

I - Billboard is an American weekly magazine and is published by Prometheus Global Media, a diversified company with leading assets in the media and entertainment arenas, including: Music (Billboard and its related conferences and events, including The Billboard Latin Music Awards), Entertainment (The Hollywood Reporter, Backstage, ShowEast, Cineasia, and CineEurope); and Advertising & Marketing (Adweek, Adweek Conferences and The CLIO Awards). Prometheus Global Media was founded in 1894 by William H. Donaldson and James H. Hennegan. It includes key features for example, Billboard’s famous standard-setting charts of U.S. sales, airplay, downloads and box office grosses.

I – This magazine expresses the values that keeping with modern ,popular music is the “thing to do.” “Who’s that girl?” ,in reference to Adele, is communicating to the audience that they need to know this person as she is the latest up and coming success. This magazine front cover fits with the typical conventions as it has a masthead, main feature: headline and image, left third, bar code, date and issue number. This magazine aims to encourage people to set a trend to listen to popular music i.e. Adele and encourage it to be in the charts. Billboard magazine is mainstream and doesn’t showcase conventional elements in the way that NME would. NME has new, fairly unknown artists on there cover whereas Billboard doesn’t take those risks. They feature Adele, because of her known success in England and rise in America. They aim to set trends in pop culture with their ‘highly affluent and influential’ audience. Therefore they don’t feature artists that defy social norms or have any political associations.

A –  The audience of this magazine is made up of 71%  aged 25 – 54 years old with a median age of 47. Their readers have a average annual income of $278,620 with 65% of their audience at director level or above. Billboard are mainly about covering the latest trends in and around pop culture. An issue of Billboard in Britain usually costs approximately £5.50 and has an issue out weekly, which explains why a majority (65%) of their readers are of the A-C1 socio-economic groups. 61% of their audience are members of industry associations such as BMI, ASCAP, NARAS, SESAC, RIAA, NARIP, AAAA, AMPAS and others. These organisations are all about supporting recording artists, performing arts and motion pictures. It recently reached approximately 16,327 people.

R –The Main Image denotes a young woman wearing a coat covering part of her face. This images connotes that she is quite mysterious and possibly secretive, because part of her face is covered. She is a new up-and-coming artist therefore people won’t know a lot about her explaining why she holds secrets. She looks directly at the audience.

Music Magazine Brief

The front page, contents, and double page spread of a new music magazine. All images and text used must be original, produced by you - minimum of four images.

Audience Feedback and Evaluation

AS Media Studies College Magazine Preliminary Task

Evaluation

My front cover fits the typical conventions of magazines by using common features such as left third, masthead, main feature headline, smaller features, date and issue number, font, colour, graphics, price, vocabulary, anchorage and main image. I chose certain words such as “exclusive”, “latest” and “just in” on my front cover to describe the features to persuade readers to pick it up by making them think that they won’t get this information from anywhere else they will need to read WI Magazine in order to get it. They also tease the audience on what those features might include making them want to read it even more. “How to…” acts as anchorage to signify to the audience what the main image is about. My front cover also features an ident in the form of an asterisk. The asterisk is a logo that represents Wyke College and will imply to the audience that this magazine has something to do with Wyke College. The Masthead tells the audience what the magazine is called and usually includes a publication date and issue number. The masthead might even tell the audience something about what could be included inside the magazine for example WI (Wyke Institution) tells the audience that the magazine includes information about Wyke College. For my college magazine I have decided not to use a barcode, because this magazine is free and will not be sold therefore the only use it would have for a barcode is to know how many copies have been picked up by students therefore telling the people that produce it how popular it is. For my main image I used a full colour photo in medium close up this is also in keeping with the typical conventions of a magazine. My photo is of a high quality, I know this because took it with a 14 mega-pixel camera. My model looks directly at the camera and is therefore engaging with the prospective readers.

I have established my own house style by choosing to use the font, Agency FB, throughout the front cover and the contents page. I think this keeps the product looking professional and consistent. I also chose to use this font because it is bold and readable due to it being a sans serif font I have also used a colour scheme of purple and an olive green, these colours originally stemmed from the asterisk logo that I have chosen to use. It keeps the magazine linked with Wyke College and by seeing the colours along with the logo the audience will know that Wyke has something to do with this magazine. I chose to use this size for the masthead because it needs to stand out and dominate about a sixth of the cover so that people actually know what magazine it is and what they are buying. I have chosen to use this placement for the main feature headline so that it is still in the left third but clearly represents the main image on the front cover, but still fits with typical magazine conventions by being in the left third. I have chosen to place this logo here so that it separates the smaller features from the main feature. I chose to use this photo to represent my main feature, because I like the way it represents the college. There is a lot of light and my model is happy, I believe it portrays a positive image to the audience. For my contents page I decided to use this layout because I was able to use both images and relevant text. In my contents page I still kept the same font and colour scheme to continue with the consistency to help it to look professional.

From doing this Preliminary Task I learnt more about Photoshop and the fact that it has layers and you are able to experiment with using or not using certain layers of your Photoshop document. It also allows you to merge pictures, text and other desired features of your magazine front cover. Photoshop lets you change the size and colour of things individually due to the layers. I also used a digital camera to take my photo. This allowed to easily move the photo from my camera to my computer and enabled me to easily edit it on Photoshop. During the process of creating my college magazine I published ideas and drafts on my blog http://jenniebrighton.blogspot.com/ This blog also enabled me to share my digital draft that I created on Prezi. All of this has allowed me to build up my ideas and track my changes enabling me to know when I have improved, due to thinking about how to make some of the elements better.

My magazine represents the students of this college, in particular the female students of this college because the model that features on the front cover is a female. I think that my magazine’s front cover represents the students as positive, happy, enthusiastic and as people who are generally hardworking. This means people outside of the college get a positive feel of our students and the college itself. The picture happens to be well lit and this will also give people a positive feeling towards the college, where as if the lighting made the photo look dull and dreary people would get the opposite feeling about the college. In a way I think it could represent girls as being harder working than boys, because there are no pictures of boys. Due to gender stereotyping I feel that my front cover will appeal more to girls, because there is no mention of sports for example.

The audience of my college magazine would be the students of Wyke College themselves. They will be aged 16 – 19 and of them 65% are female and 35% male. Also 60% are from Hull and 40% are from the East Riding. I have these statistics and I do think my magazine may attract a female audience more than a male, because I have used a female model other girls will instantly relate to her and are therefore more likely to pick this magazine up. I think this magazine will appeal to an integrated audience as there is something in this magazine for them, because they can get involved but there is also something in it for others. Other people are informed and entertained as well as you. It will probably appeal to those students that are interested in doing well and want to be more involved with Wyke College, as the model on the front cover is shown as being focused and ready to work. If students don’t like college and aren’t interested in doing particularly well then it isn’t likely to appeal to them. My other target audience would be prospective students, people who are interested in coming to Wyke College, but might be on the fence about their decision. Giving them an insight into what really goes and what the students of Wyke think might help them to decide and could, prospectively, sell the college to even more people.

I have attracted my audience through the use of teasing devices by using “EXCLUSIVE” they know that they won’t get this information anywhere else and are therefore more likely to want to read this magazine. I put this word in upper case so that they become more noticeable and easily readable. I also used a photo that is well lit up giving it a more positive feel. My model is happy and looks ready to work also giving off a positive image of Wyke College. When I asked people about my front cover and asked them if they would read it they generally gave me positive feedback such as “I think your magazine would appeal to many people in the college, I like that you have thought out the picture well and the picture looks very natural, I would also get others to read this magazine.” And “I would read it because it looks professional and the picture stands out really well. Also the girl in the picture is my age so I would probably read it more because of this, where as if it were a teacher or a boy I probably wouldn't.” Other people said “Yes I would probably read it because I would want to see the Halloween pictures.” Also “Yes I would, it is very nice!”

In conclusion I think that my magazine would work well if it were a real publication. It would encourage the students to be more proactive and get involved with more aspects of college life. By being a part of their own publication that they have worked on, it could help them to gain experience and decide what they might want to do after they leave college. If I were to advertise this to prospective publishers I think it would be a great opportunity as there is a huge gap in the market for a nationally produced student/college life magazine.

Final Design

Computer Draft of a Contents Page

Contents Editing

This is a print screen of a draft of my contents page in Microsoft Word. I have decided to continue using my house style of green and purple colours for the font and Agency FB for the font. I think this helps to create a more consistent and professional looking magazine and front cover.

Changes made to Front Cover

From my original draft (on the left) I have deleted the logo from the top right corner and added a different logo in order to represent Wyke Sixth Form College. I have chosen to use the asterisk and  I then experimented with different colours linking the colours of the asterisk to the colours of my text. I have also edited it and moved the main feature headline into the left third, thus keeping with the conventions of a typical magazine front cover. I also made the mast head bigger so that it dominates more of the page and creates the effect that it is an important part of the magazine and the audience will subconsciously know this.

Draft Layout Ideas

Editing on Photoshop

This shows how I have experimented with the colours of the text to try and link it in with other elements of the magazine including the images, such as the green file and purple pencil case. I was doing this in order to establish a house-style for my magazine. I was aiming to have a consistent font and colour scheme to make my magazine's front cover look more professional.

This photoshop image shows how I have tried using a different logo to represent the institute it is for - Wyke Sixth Form College. The other I used seemed out of place and the colour of it no longer fitted with the colour scheme I have now chosen for the magazine. When the text was all black it fitted with it nicely, but that is no longer the case.

In this print screen I have experimented with the colour again to keep it consistent with the new logo that I have added. I think this helps to establish the house style and compliments other features of the front cover by them being similar colours.

In this print screen I have moved the masthead to fit in the gap where there is a neutral background so that it is able to stand out more and is more readable among the plain background rather than being barely readable against the window, which is where it was placed. I have kept the date line and issue no. only as wide as the masthead is so that it is kept neat and in line. Otherwise everything would start to look out of place and it wouldn't look as professional.