Preliminary Task

In this section I had to do a preliminary task to get me used to the software such as Photoshop and in design. It also allowed me to be hands on with the camera getting me used to shutter speed, focus, aperture etc. I had to create a front cover with a mid-shot image and a contents page the way we though it should look. So as you can see I stuck to these requirements. I did take more than one image for the front cover as the first time I uploaded some they were a bit blurry, so I retook this image and it was perfect.

Analyses of Five Music Magazine Front Covers

This magazine is one of the most popular R&B magazines out there with information inside on all the latest artists, fashion trends and new singles released. As you can see the front cover of this magazine is mainly taken up by the image of Eric Bellinger, which is also clearly shown by the large, bold, red writing underneath him. This image is there main focal point on this front cover and attracts the reader in straight away as it basically takes up the whole page. I believe when I create my music magazine I will have one big main image on my front cover as it attracts the reader’s attention and shows them who the main artist of the week is. There are also two other main focal points which are the title of the magazine – ‘Rnb’ and the artist’s name – ‘Eric Bellinger’. I believe it is important to have these two as focal points so we know who the artist on the front is and we know what the magazine is called. I will ensure I have a similar layout with focal points as this, having one artists name as a focal point and the name of the magazine, it’s important for the reader to know a man article in the magazine and what the actual magazine is called. 

I believe it is important to recognise that they seem to stick to the house style of red, white and black on this front cover. I believe these colours work well together. Also the colour red has connotations of danger and energy, this can be linked to the genre of R&B itself as it can be considered as ‘bad boy’ music and some artists can be seen as quite dangerous characters. When creating my magazine I will think hard about colour connotations, and what they infer about this genre of music and the magazine itself as colours can be used as a very strong message.
On this front cover is two barcodes, one which is a code that can be recognised by blackberry phones which takes you to a web link, assuming to be related to this magazine and a normal barcode to be scanned when purchased. These are two features that we don’t always think about putting on but in fact they are both very important and are a nice little added touch and I will remember to incorporate this into my music magazine. There are also related stories on this cover that are inside the magazine such as ‘Sexuality in today’s music’ and ‘Karma the new girl group’. There are also different stories on the right hand side as well.
As you can see there is different fonts and different sized font used on this cover, I believe this is for the importance of certain articles, i.e. the more important and interesting stories get a larger bolder font. When creating my magazine I will take examples form this by adding different headings on the front related to the stories inside, this is a good way to get across what’s inside the magazine without the reader having to look in it.

I also like how the background colour does not change and just stays plain white. I will remember to keep one solid background colour on my cover as it looks professional and not confusing.

 This magazine is by NME who could be considered one of the most popular music magazines in the whole media industry in these recent years. I like how they have one image taking up the whole cover as its attention grabbing. When creating my magazine I will just use one related image on the front cover to cover the whole page as like I said it is attention grabbing and intriguing. I like the fact the NME have kept this front cover quite plain and there is not a whole lot going on as sometimes it can become too much and confusing if there is loads of text and colours crammed into one page. I will make sure I don’t try and fill the whole page with text and colours as it can be quite overwhelming and confusing for the reader. It can also look unprofessional which is not the correct message my audience should receive.

As you can see NME have stuck to the house style colours of black and white and kept it plain, I would usually say stick to 3 colours used on a front cover as its more attention grabbing but I believe this works well and ties in with the genre of music they use. For example NME usually have Indie music but they also have a variety so if they used the colour red it wouldn’t tie in with some of the bands or artists they show inside the magazine, so I believe they have took the right option stuck with black and white as it doesn’t great major connotations but in fact looks professional and presentable. I will ensure I don’t go over the top with colours and make sure the colours I use are for a reason and I have not just picked them at random, because of what looks good.

They have used a variety of 3-4 different text used here, this is a good idea as it’s adds that touch of professionalism and variety to it, especially because they have not used bold colours they need to make up for it in a different way and I believe it looks good. I think when I create my magazine I will take ideas from this and definitely use a variety of fonts as it adds change and individuality.

As you can see they have used a bar code in the bottom right hand corner, this is because it needs to be there but not to distract the reader. When I insert my bar code I will use this idea and make sure my bar code is not in the way but is visible if the reader wants to check it and for the employer to scan it through.

Q is another very popular magazine that has kept its good reputation for while, being the most bought music magazine in 2006. They have a mix and match of artists from Tinie Tempah to Liam Gallagher. My first impressions of this magazine are okay, as they seem to stick to 3-4 colours of the red text linked in with the logo, the green text linked in with his jacket and the black and white text used because they both look good. I may use this technique of linking the mise en scene colours to the font colours used such as his jacket and the green text as I believe they work well together. Also linking the logo colour to main headline colours to attract the reader’s attention as they link up well with one another.

The actual image of Liam himself is very good as you can see the other 3 band members in the reflection of his glasses; this shows distance between them which is of course because they have split up. It is clever techniques such as this that make the cover look good rather than just a plain photo with no meaning or expression. This has made me realise when I take my main photo I need to infer certain messages across to my audience in different ways, as an image can be used very cleverly inferring different meanings if took correctly.
What I like about this name is that it’s just a single letter which speaks so many volumes and  is very ironic. I also like it how it how the letter ‘Q’ nearly takes up the full red square because it makes it stand out along with these two colours contrasting with one another. What I have taken from this is that I need a logo/name that links up with my house style for one, but in fact stands out on the shelves and doesn’t just blend in with the rest, because a good name can be the difference between a good magazine and a bad one.

There is a constant occurrence with these magazines, and this is that the artists name is always on the front cover in big bold writing. This makes it clear to me that too be up there with the best music magazines I must take the same approach and I will use this in my music magazine.

Q is also very well known for their significant ‘+’ sign going from one heading to another. This makes them different from the rest and creates certain individuality with their magazine. When creating my magazine I may in fact have something on my front cover that symbolises us, I believe it’s a nice personal touch to add.

Kerrang is very well known for the genre of rock/metal music. I like what they have done with their name because it looks as if it is broken glass, which links with the cliché of loud music breaking glass, so we instantly know this is a heavy rock magazine. If I can find a similar technique to use for my genre magazine I will go ahead with it as I think this is a very clever idea.

Another way we instantly its heavy rock is by the mise en scene in the way the women is dressed and the facial expressions she’s using. For example she has that sort of ‘bad boy’ look on her face as if she doesn’t care and is mischievous. Also I like how she is wearing all black with black makeup, black clothing, and black hair as it just instantly shows us this is a heavy metal magazine as this is the way they look. Mise en scene is a very good factor to take into account when creating my magazine as it creates instant assumptions of the genre it is and is a good use of shortcutting.

As you can clearly see they use four main colours of yellow, red, black and white. I believe they use these colours to create connotations of rebellion, energy, danger, gothic etc. This all links back up with the genre style music. I can clearly see a pattern with these magazines that everything on it is used for a reason whither it be colours, misse en scene font style etc.  I must incorporate this into music magazine as it is a clear pattern shown that all music magazines use it and I want to be just as good as them if not better.

What I don’t like about this cover is that I just think there is too much going as there are several images, and I don’t think the yellow and red contrast too well together as there both really bold colours, there are also a few headings and it feels as if there is something important everywhere you look and I believe a reader shouldn’t feel like this, it also doesn’t seem very clear as it looks like all one big collage. When creating my magazine I will not have it as in your face as this feels because I feel as if it suffocates the reader with too much information. This is not the message my audience should receive. 

Vibe is a very popular music magazine in the whole industry of music. It is by far one of the most popular and well known R&B magazines in the R&B industry. It informs there audience on all the latest news about all the top R&B artists, with their newest look and single or just basic gossip inside the R&B industry.

What I instantly like about this magazine is that you can clearly see rule of thirds has been used. For example the artist Chris Brown is clearly right in the centre column nearly all the way down. His head,      t-shirt and jeans are all split into the three rows in the centre column. The magazine name ‘Vibe’ is also clearly shown in the whole of the top row on significant points, these all attract the reader’s attention straight away. When creating my magazine I will ensure that I use the rule of thirds as it’s such a clever technique as it’s scientifically proven too attract the reader’s attention to specific points, so if you put important information in those places it will most likely be recognised by the reader.  

Another factor I like about this cover is that they chop and change between white and green text on certain information. This is just another way to create individuality to make it their own. I will try and do something similar to this too make it stand out and create individuality just so it doesn’t blend in with the rest, as they can all look very similar.

I also like the fact that it’s not jam packed full of information and I feel as if it has the right balance. I believe balance of information is key on a front cover. I will make sure I have the right balance of not loads of information but enough so the reader gets an idea of what is inside.

I also like the misse en scene foe Chris Brown as you can see he’s wearing his bling of gold chains, big belt and a cap, it clearly shows the vulgarity of R&B singers. I will make sure the costumes I use for my photo clearly fit in with my genre, for example you can’t have a sweet innocent girl in pink on the front cover of a rock magazine as it just wouldn’t be fit for purpose. 

Detailed analyses of five contents pages

This music magazine is by the famous RnB Company ‘Vibe’. To cover nearly the whole page is the very popular artist Kanye West. It’s clear to us that this contents page has gone for the very image dominated style and not the ‘blocky’ look. I like how they have used this technique as it catches the reader’s eye and their attention is drawn straight to the page. This contents page looks very smart as if nothing is out of place and all clearly linked up with the house style. Including the colour contrast of the image itself as it’s got a strong grey tone on it. I personally believe this is the better approach for a contents page and I may use a very similar layout when creating my contents page. I will just be using large image but with nice smart text around it.

As soon as we look at this it’s clear to us that it’s a contents page straight away as it has the word ‘contents’ split up into 3 lines. This creates individuality and makes it their own. It’s also now quite stylish to have quirky little features such as this on your magazine. When creating my contents page I might include some quirky features and follow the trend as it makes it more interesting and what the audience would portray as ‘cool’.

As you can see this whole page is in black and white, including the watermark, the image and the text itself. The only one thing that is in colour is the small red heart mysteriously placed under the women’s hand. This gives a clear message the there is an article about his personal life mainly his love life as the women’s hand and the heart both have connotations of love. They have made the heart red to stand out and so we see clearly what it is. When creating my contents page I will insert an image that will tell a story as I believe this is important to do this as it can be used in a very clever and powerful way.

Another feature that stands out in this contents page is the watermark of the big ‘V’ behind the image and text. The ‘V’ of course stands for ‘Vibe’ the name of the magazine. If you read Vibe magazines you will see this occur a lot and is just another one of Vibes trademarks to make it clear to their audience that this magazine is by Vibe. When creating my magazine I may include something that links with my style or name to act as a trademark so my audience know that it is by the name of my magazine. This is a very clever technique.

            As you can see in large bold writing at the top this music magazine it shows it’s by NME. As you can see there is one main focal point used in the centre of the page which is the image. It is clear to us that this is what we would call the ‘blocky’ look. We know it’s the blocky look because there is a lot of text separated under different sub headings. My personal opinion is that I don’t like this blocky look as I feel as if there is too much going on text, bold writing and a few different sub headings and this specific one doesn’t work well with the colour scheme. This may be the reasons why I personally prefer the image dominated look.  

On the other hand this specific contents page does stick to most codes and conventions. For example it does have stories plugged such as a brief description on the arctic monkey’s story. It also has small little details such as page numbers dates etc. Even If I don’t take the blocky approach with my contents page I will be sticking to the codes and conventions as this is what makes a contents page.

What I like about this page is that it sticks to a consistent house style throughout, such as following the red, white and black theme. I believe they picked this house style to link up with their red and white logo. Everything they do if it has enough detail it will consist of these 3 colours. For example they have a red bullet point with black text and a black/white sub heading. So they try and fit these colours in as much as they can but in sensible way. What I mean by this is that they haven’t gone overboard with these colours but used them enough so we can see a clear a house style. I will make sure I stick to a consistent and clear house style in my magazine; I will try and link it up with the colours of my logo. It creates a certain individuality so the audience can tell going off the colours who the magazine is by.

Another thing I like about this is that they have included something that is completely irrelevant to the content and told the reader how they could save money by including an advert. This is clever as the contents page is important and dedicated readers will check it so they are most likely the audience who buy this magazine weekly and would like to save money on it. I will maybe include a similar feature as I believe e it’s a nice added touch or I might include it on another page as NME have built up a reputation with their audience and I am just new so I won’t have much of an audience so including it somewhere else in the magazine maybe be a better idea for me.

            This magazine is by the company known as ‘Q’. The first thing that stands out to me on this contents page is the layout as it’s the blocky look. Usually the block look will have a ‘Masculine’, ‘unfussy’ appearance or ‘Dotty’ line separators. But I believe this has none of them compared to the NME one. This is exactly what I like about it as it looks stylish, neat and not in your face. These are exactly the features I would use if I were to go for the blocky look because I believe it works really well and makes it clear to the audience what is what.

            I like the fact this contents page uses more than one image. This makes more of variety which makes it more interesting and suitable to the audience because not everyone may like Adele. I also like how they are different sizes because it tells us what the main story is and what the second one is. This is a good portrayal just by using images and is a very clear technique. If I decide to use the blocky look I will include more than one image to just add variety and try and reach out to my target audience in more than one way as I have more chance of hitting them all this way.

This contents page sticks to a strong house style with two shades of grey, white, black and red. I personally believe this is too many colours as I think you should stick to around 3 maximum of 4. On the other hand the colours they have used aren’t extremely bold so I suppose they can get away with it. When I decide my house style it will be around 3-4 colours just so it’s not too over whelming.

I like the fonts Q has used on here because they are all clear and not too fancy. If they had really fancy posh looking font it wouldn’t suit the genre Q are associated with. They also seem to stick to around 3 fonts and sizes. When choosing my fonts I will stick to around 3 as I believe any more than that can look unprofessional. I will stick to a font I believe sits my genre so not anything too fancy but not hard looking.

 It is clear to us this music magazine is by Mojo by the large title at the top of this contents page. This is unusual as most magazines would have the word ‘contents’ at the top but as we see here it’s the name of the magazine. I quite like this approach because it’s obviously clear to us that it’s a contents page so they don’t feel the need to tell us as we can tell this through the codes and conventions used. As I say I do like this approach but I feel if I were to do it wouldn’t be the same and  wold just maybe have my logo and the word ‘contents’.

Even though this contents page has gone for the blocky look it doesn’t seem as bold as the NME magazine. I believe this is because it doesn’t have massive bold headings and sub headings which I believe is better because it’s not so in my face. It is also just one massive long list one under another and is not separates into different sections. Even though it doesn’t have sub headings it has page names which I think is just as good as it tells you what you need to know. I also like it how they have it in bigger bolder font to make it stand out. If I decide to go for the blocky look I may do something similar to this because it looks neater and tells the reader everything they need to know through the page name, so they get a rough idea of the content. This is good as contents pages shouldn’t give you every detail but enough so you know what to expect.

Another feature I like about this contents page is the column of images on the right hand side. The reason there good is because there not related to any of the description in the centre but have their own story, as you can see there is a page number and title next to each one. This creates a good variety and adds there personal spin on it as readings just text can get boring and an image can sometimes tell a better story and give you more of an idea. When I am creating my contents page I must think outside of the box and see what I can come up with to make me stand out like this layout by Mojo.

I like the fonts Mojo have used here as it adds variety and suits there house style well. Using italic fonts can be risky as it can be seen as classy but I believe it works really well with the page title and a little description. With my design I will use a variety of fonts and may in fact use italic because it looks stylish, classy and modern.

 ‘Ebony’ is an RnB magazine with all the latest RnB artists. The first thing that stands out here is the large image of these two artists so we instantly know this isn’t the blocky look but is the image dominated layout. I believe it is important to think about the mise en scene for image dominated layout and this is why I like how they’re both wearing white, for two reasons. It can be seen as a ‘sexy’ colour especially how they are wearing it open with their body language and unbuttoned. It makes us feel there is gossip between these two and we need to find out more. The other reason is that there colours links up well with the word ‘Contents, I also believe rule of thirds has been used to attract our attention and make us drawn in. I will think carefully with my miss en scene and rule of thirds as it can be used effectively to tell a story or in fact draw us in.

I also like how half of the word ‘contents’ is being covered, because we can all clearly see it’s a contents page without that title actually being there. It draws our attention to the two artists to infer they are more important and are the main story. I do like this technique and may use a similar one for my contents page; this is a common future used by magazines by putting an image in front of half of the title, as it does tell a story and attracts you to the image rather than the title.

In the bottom right hand corner there is a promotion for their iPad app. This is a clever technique as it’s a good way to promote as their target audience will read the contents page so will most likely purchase the app. I also like how they have even managed to link there promotion up with their house style of white and yellow text.  I may use this technique and try and promote a feature or maybe a link to a website because it does work and is just another way to promote their brand. 

General Progression

I'm in a position at the moment where I believe I am going to go ahead with an RnB genre magazine. There are two main reasons for this, the first reason is that RnB is my favourite type of music so writing and creating a magazine about will be great fun! My second reason is that my friend has confirmed he will be in my magazine, he dresses like an RnB artist with the baggy clothing and 'Bling' so Mise en scène  shouldn't be to difficult to get a hold off, he will be perfect for this genre and now I just cant wait to start making my magazine! :)

Analyse of Doble Page spread

This double page spread is by the Rnb magazine Vibe. What we have on the whole of the left page is Bruno Mars the famous singer. They have taken up the full page to attract our attention and so we know the article next to him is based on Bruno himself. I may use a large image like this so my audience instantly knows who the article is about as its clear going off the large image.

They follow the classic convention of using the grid system set into 3 columns. This is the way most magazines like to display there texts as it looks professional and presentable. I may use 3 columns for my article because it’s a main convention of double page spreads, most magazines use it and it looks smart.

The size of the text they use seems to be pt 8 – pt 12, in comparison with the large “When Mars Attacks”, it makes the title really stand out especially with the dark blue and black font. What also significant about the title font is the fact the colours fit in with the colours used on the image. It works really well and becomes clear this is the house style of Vibe. I may take this technique of using lighting and colours to fit in with my house style because it works really well and makes the audience know this is our house style, our identity nobody else.

Including the title Vibe use 3 different font sizes – the title – main body text – sub headings/sentences. They seemed to have bolded and increased the size of their sub headings/sentences. This is clever because they basically summaries’ that paragraph and that it’s the most imorportant section so they have bolded it to make this clear to the reader. I may use different font sizes to show importance as it does work as bolded font makes the reader feel look at me I’m important. This is a great technique and sections out different bits of text.

This double page spread is a sample from the NME music magazine. The first thing I see with this double page spread is the fact it’s one massive picture behind all of the text. I notice straight away if you take away the text is this not basically a poster? This large image vastly sticks out in comparison with the text around it, I do think they have the right balance as there is a lot of text surrounding it. I believe this is the other approach magazines take when making a double page spread with the image domination. I do like this approach and it is a hard decision whether I use a centre line spread or one massive image covering both pages because both approaches are appealing to me, depending if I get the right photo or not and whether it ties in with my house style, which is when I will make my decision.

Another feature I like about this layout is that each column of text is clearly broken down into different sections all with their own sub/heading. These sub headings make it clear what each column of text is about. They have bolded and enlarged this text so we see each sub heading more clear and gives us an insight whether we will like this column of text or not. This layout o the columns does appeal to me because it looks sharp and quirky, if I display my double page spread in a similar way I will most likely take the idea of breaking each column down and giving them their own sub heading.

We can see on the first column of text they have used the large drop down letter of ‘W’ covering six sentences. There is no real purpose for this it is only used because it’s a classic convention of a magazine and it looks good. Because I want to great ideas from this magazine I will insert a drop down letter in my first column of text because it is a main convention that most magazines do and I want mine to be as good as there’s so this is why I will use this technique.

This is a double page spread issued by the magazine ‘Kerrang’ The first thing that stands out is the large predominant image. Due to the slanting of his head and sort of leant back we get the idea he’s quite rebellious. Due to his clothing, jewelry, tattoos and the t shirt he’s wearing we get the feeling Kerrang is gothic/punk sort of genre. I did some extra research and this is the genre, I like how I knew this straight away by just looking at this image. With my main image I would like the audience to know instantly what genre it is just by going off the way my artist will look.

I like the house style they have used with the grey, dull background, with white and black text. It goes with their genre of being quite dark but mysterious. With my mise en scene I will think carefully about it and what colours, font I will use as I want it to tell a story within itself.

A very clever technique they have done is link the huge word ‘ABSOLOUTELY’ and its colours to link up with the artist’s t shirt with the white and black. Its not something that stands out to me straight away but once analyzed closely I noticed it. It’s actually a good idea because it makes the whole page link in with each other better and suits the house style. I would take away from this point that everything on my page should fit in, nothing should look out of place because it just look stupid, I would obviously prefer my work to loom more professional and presentable.

I like how in the top left hand corner they have inserted a box saying ‘News’, below that word is the Kerrang web address. This promotes there magazine even more as their audience will go visit this website and find out the latest ‘News’. I may insert quirky little futures such as this just to add some variety, and if people are interested enough they can look elsewhere for some more on their favorite artists.

I look at this and the first thing I notice is that the image takes up  one and a half pages, and one column of text to fill up the rest. Personally I believe they don’t have the correct balance as there should be more text than this because it’s supposed to be an article so it should have 3 but a minimum of 2 columns. Looking at this I just don’t believe there is enough text, with my double page spread I wont be taking the same approach and I will insert more text than this.

We see they have thought carefully about the mise en scene because in the background we see gym equipment, mainly boxing as we see pads, bags mats etc. We know boxing is a violent sport so we get this idea that this article is about him arguing or maybe even being violent towards someone. I like how the mise en scene has told us a story before we have even read the article; I will do something similar as location is very important as it can describe a person before you have even read about them.

At the top we see an introduction to this article which is a main convention and we also see a quote he said while being interviewed. I like these little features as it makes it more interesting and actually uses evidence of what the artists Nas has said. I may include a quote from my artist because it makes it more personal to the reader as it came directly out of his mouth.

This double page spread is by the magazine Q. We see the main picture is the famous hip hop artist Jay – Z. We can clearly see the main colour scheme to be red with the photo, some of the text and the gigantic ‘J’ that covers the whole article page. Red has connotations of love or danger, so we get the feeling this article maybe on his love life or an argument with someone? I want the colour scheme I use to reflect the article I am talking about so my audience instantly gets connotations in their head, of what this article may be about, along as I get the audience thinking, that is my main objective.

As you can see the big red J covers the whole of the article. This J is one of Q’s unique selling points and when people see this J they know instantly this is by Q. It creates individuality and is there little thing no other music magazines. This is a good idea; individuality is a key thing when there is so much competition so for me to take this idea and run with it is exactly what I might do. On the other hand I don’t particularly like this specific design of a huge J as it does complicate text and make it harder to read.

As we see they use Serif type font with the little flourishes at the edges. This font can be seen as more fancy and glamorous compared to Sans-serif font without the little flourishes at the edges. This portrays hip hop to be a lot of glamour, show off and look at me. We know it is like this and this font portrays it in the correct way. I want my font to match with my genre as it does work really well, for example if I decide to go for punk rock I may decide to choose Sans – Serif as it fits the genre better.

One thing I don’t like about this column layout is how blocky and formal each column looks. I believe it should be quirky and jumping out at me so I want to read, but I don’t because it looks too much and formal. I want my text to invite the reader in and make them want to read it, not put them off. So I world maybe use a different font or change the font colours to something a but more quirky and out there. There target audience is young people who aren’t going to want to read this much text, they have made a bad move here.

Initial ideas

This my first step and my initial ideas where I throw out some ideas of mine in a spider diagram such as genre, house style, target audience etc. this gets my ideas flowing and hopefully I can apply some of these to my magazine.