Pre-Completed Magazine

Analysis of two front covers, contents pages and double page spreads of music magazines

Front cover one
The Masthead: The masthead in magazine one solid white against a black shadow, creating a 3D effect. This goes with the colour scheme of the magazine, along with framing the image of Jimi Hendrix. The blue colour scheme along with this gives a professional and calm feel, along with representing the genre reference. The use of a complimentary colour for the pug makes it stand out from the cover story.
Front cover two:
The Masthead: The masthead in magazine two is plain white, is fine and stands out against the psychedelic background, creating a high contrast and therefore making the overall magazine stand out more. The cover story is illustrated which merges with the photography of the band featured




Contents pages





Double page spread

Expermimentation with Cover Photo

This was my original cover photo.

This photo was, I think, taken with little thought and minimal professionalism. We were working with little time nor preparation, this resulting in poorly made decisions

This is the cover photo after I retook it and edited it more professionally.

The results of this result in a better quality photo, with improved lighting, camera position and house style. To edit this photograph, I used www.ipiccy.com to edit the colours, brightness, effects and the shape of faces, to create an overall more psychedelic effect.

Altered Front Cover Development

Front Cover Development

This is a selection of images to show the development of the creation of my front cover photo for my magazine. It starts with a picture taken of two unique looking people (me and Maia) posing using colloquial body language (relaxed, leaning, closed eyes, peace signs). This will connote the hippy, carefree vibes that will be present throughout my magazine.
The original photo was taken against a mostly white background and so that the camera shows the entire body. The white background also makes it easier to use the Magic Wand tool on Photoshop to delete areas in which the background would be inserted, i.e. hand-drawn hippy art, exciting colours. The full body shot shows the different and strange clothing that the stars are wearing, helping to further accentuate the hippy and alternative vibes for my target audience.

Photography Ideas

I want the front cover/images of my magazine to be plentiful and bright in colour, with lots of hippy-esque drawings and art surrounding them. This would not only add a layer of interest to my magazine, but it would also really engage my target audience, as they would be people who admire psychedelic art and the 1970's aesthetic.
The magazines pictured below portray this extremely well, with lots of variation in eye-catching colours and art surrounding the models.
My ideas for clothing are that they will represent the hippy/psychedelic genre, filled with unusuality and interesting colours; similar to that of the artists that my magazine will be representing.
Some ideas of how I will achieve this are as follows:

• I could draw psychedelic patterns & shapes on paper and scan them in so that they could be a background for my front cover.
• I could draw patterns but instead on a sheet of A4 paper, I could draw them on a wall behind my model.
• I could draw the art on a digital program such as Photoshop, and place the model in front of it.

I want my model to be someone of unique strangeness, with equally matching clothes.
I want the model to be photographed in a mid close-up style, meaning that their face to mid torso will be visible. This will mean that their costume will be somewhat visible, along with the page having enough space around the model for art and coverlines.

Name & Masthead Ideas

These are the possible names, colours, fonts and styles I will be using for the masthead of my magazine.

Names:

Other psychedelic magazines included names such as "Kaliedoscope", "Interstellar Overdrive" and "Ugly Things", which are quite alternative, somewhat strange titles; so I have chosen to go with similarly strange names.

• Psychedelia
• Hippy
• Magic/Magick/Magik
• Hippy Magic
• Joy (haha ayy)
• Peace
• Yin-Yang
• Shroomery

Colours:

Bright, colourful fonts were used in the majority of magazines similar to my genre. Some of these were accompanied by gradients and patterns. The colours used were mostly rainbow or white against a colourful background.

Fonts:

Most fonts used quite close tracking, along with a wavey, carefree, artsy style; a very 1970's look.

• Victor Moscoso Regular
• Psychedelic HM
• Cheshire Initials
• KR Shroom
• Hobo Std
• Rosewood Std

 

After some evaluation of my decisions, I decided it would be appropriate for the artsy genre of my magazine to hand draw the masthead, instead of having a fixed font that prevents the creativity I want my magazine to portray. Fonts are a barrier to our imagination and a subconscious metaphor for not revolting against the bourgeoisie, man.

This resulted in me sketching some ideas on paper and scanning them into Photoshop, with the intent of editing them and making them look exciting and colourful.

Magazine Questionnaire

To ensure my magazine posesses the correct features for my target audience, I must ask the audience themselves. Their answer to these questions will influence how I will publish my magazine.

1.       What magazine name do you think would be appropriate for my target audience? Why?

2.       Which format would you prefer the magazine to display information? For example: Articles, interviews and questionairres. Why?

3.       What sort of central images would you like to see featured and why?

4.       Would you prefer the articles to be about niche bands or well-known bands?

Initial Ideas/Pitch

My initial ideas for a music magazine are that it should be something different, something that stands out from the over-crowded market that is music magazines. Since there is a shortage in psychedelic & alternative music magazines, perhaps I should create one based on those. I believe that my genre will be psychedelic and hippy; and therefore somewhat niche. Although there is a relatively small audience for my magazine, there is also a very small number of psychedelic magazines, creating an easy market for my potential magazine in a market of over-crowding and repetition that has little representation of the hippy-esque genre.

Bands that could be included in my magazine are:
Tame Impala, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, The Clash, The Cure, David Bowie, Fleece, Grateful Dead, The Doors, Hawkwind, Here & Now, Pink Floyd, The Scorpions.

The institutions that would be interested in publishing my magazine are:

• Bauer - Publishes MOJO and Q, which usually contain rock & post 90's music.
• The Wire - Publishes independent, not so well-known magazines.
• Wenner Media - Publishes the Rolling Stone, a magazine known for its rock & roll genre.

I'm thinking of creating something similar to these magazines; not only will the bright colours catch the attention of the potential buyers of the magazine, but the psychedelic & post-1980's hippy style will also entice my target audience.

The collage pictured below is a collection of the sort of vibes and styles I want my magazine to capture. This includes tie-dye, peace symbols, space and psychedelic pictures with lots of bold colours and patterns. A very vibrant, artistic and carefree feel.

Research of Music Magazines

From searching for various music magazines and analysing their appearance, I have gathered that the majority of music magazines are of rock and pop genre, and made up of fairly recent releases. Every cover page features one well-known artist filling the majority of the page, each one rather dramatic & serious. Coverlines are plentisome, filling most of the page. They contain titles such as "THE 10 BEST NEW ACTS" and "Unseen Photos", which would persuade the audience to want to read the magazine to find out the information advertised. There is usually a contrast of bold & dull colours, such as orange and white, red and black, etc.

Plan

Our task is to create a front cover, contents page and double page of a new music magazine.

Research & Planning
We must provide research of similar magazines and a potential target audience.
There must be excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes and props when creating images for our magazine.
There must also be excellent work on shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting and storyboarding. We must also take care in the presentation of the research and planning.
Our time management should also be punctual, making sure not to miss deadlines.

Production
We must produce material that is appropriate for the task and target audience.
We should show understanding of conventions of magazine layout and page design.
Awareness for the need of variety of text size and fonts should be shown.
Language and register should be accurately used
ICT should be used appropriately for the task set
We must appropriately integrate illustration and text
Photographing, drawing & editing should be copious in variety of material appropriate for the set task
Manipulation of photographs as appropriate to the context for presentation should be made, including cropping and resizing.

Evaluation
Use of appropriate digital technology and ICT in the evaluation.
Understanding of issues around audience, institution technology, representation, forms & conventions in relation of production
Excellent ability to refer to the choices made and the outcomes of them
Understanding of their development from the preliminary to the full task
Excellent communication abilities

Dates
5th of October
- Introduce the main task & post action plan
- Present initial ideas for magazine on blog
- Post institution research
- Analyse two front covers from chosen genre and post on blog
12th of October
- Analyse two contents pages and two DBS from chosen genre and post
- Begin to develop pitch using Prezi
19th of October
- Present pitch, post pitch & audience feedback
- Complete rough magazine pages
- Produce a style sheet which reflects the brand identity and house style of the magazine
2nd of November
- Produce magazine
9th of November
- Design front cover, with experimentation with layout, colour, font, language and photos
16th of November
- Likewise as above
23rd of November
- Design & develop a double page spread, experiment with layout, colour, font, language and photos
30th of November
- Develop design work in response to audience feedback
7th of December
- Finalise design of all pages
14th of December
- Develop draft evaluation
4th of January
- Develop evaluation
11th of January
- Complete evaluation
- Final blog check
Deadline: Friday 29th of January

Student Magazine Evaluation

1.      In what ways does your student magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Before creating my own student magazine, I made sure to research professional magazines similar to that genre. I did this so that I gain knowledge of what a student magazine should look like & the main features that student magazines share; such as what sort of fonts, colours and coverlines they use. During my research, I noticed that most student magazines contain a large central image of a young person or student, ususally giving eye contact, creating a direct mode of address. The fact that the portrayed person is young would also be appealing to my target audience, which are young students aged between 15 and 21. The colours of student magazines vary between being very serious (black, white, blue) to quite lively (green, red, pink). I wanted to create a sensible yet interesting magazine that doesn’t bore nor patronize my audience, so I used a variety of greys, yellows, blues and pinks.

2.      How does your student magazine represent particular social groups?

3.      What kind of media institution might distribute your student magazine and why?

4.      Who would be the audience for your student magazine?

5.      How did you attract/address your audience?

6.      What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the student magazine?

The Finished Cover & Contents Page

Rough Ideas

Here is a selection of my rough ideas for the front page & contents page of my student magazine.

Experimentation pt. 2

In order to create the best possible magazine for your target audience, you must experiment with different modes of address to ensure that you have explored every different approach & choose the best option from there.

After researching similar magazines, I have gathered that the best mode of address would be an informal yet informing dialogue, to ensure that the target audience does not become bored nor do they feel patronized. I have also decided to use second person, as this will entice my readers & will make them feel more involved when reading it, as it is addressed to them.

Another thing that you might want to experiment with is masthead names, as they can tell the reader a lot about the type of magazine they are reading. For example, if a magazine is titled "Student" the audience might think that the magazine will be boring & won't bother reading it. However, if a magazine is titled "Fun!", the audience might think that the magazine is a bit naff & slightly patronizing, which would also put them off reading it. It is important to get a balanced mixture of fun & serious, even if it's just the title of the magazine.

I have experimented with a range of different magazine names, including:

• Student
• Students of Ludlow
• Fun!
• The Magazine of Banter
• The Hub
• The Groove
• Student Bible

 I decided that the best name to go with was Students of Ludlow, because I think it best represents the contents of the magazine, it interests local readers, and it does not sound too formal nor does it sound too informal.

Experimentation

In order to achieve the highest quality magazine, one must experiment with a variety of different fonts, colour schemes & ideas.
Research of my target audience (college students) show that they don't like magazines to be too bright, as they'd find them to be childish and patronizing; however, they're also not fond of magazines being too dull, as they'd find them to be too boring and wouldn't bother reading them.
During my preparation for my magazine, I experimented with a variety of colours varying from blue to yellow, and fonts varying from Ariel to . Below is a showcase of the different ideas & techniques I used.

The Target Audience of a Student Magazine & Their Interests

As my target audience are students that go to Ludlow College, I decided to ask them a few questions.

What sorts of things would you like to see in a student magazine?

• Local events, clubs, pass times
• Celebrity gossip (ew)
• Revision & studying techniques
• The latest & most hip media (films, books, music etc.)
• Entertaining stories
• Not too formal nor informal

How much would you spend on a student magazine? 

• Between nothing & £2

My Potential Ideas for a Student Magazine

Rough Ideas for my Front Cover

These are my ideas for my student magazine. From research of other magazines, I have made the central image large, so that is eye-catching & catches the attention of the reader.

I have chosen to place the masthead in the top left-hand corner, as this is where many other magazines place their masthead. People will usually see the masthead first, as people read from top left to right, so I have chosen to make it a circular shape, which I believe is different & may further interest the reader into reading the magazine because of this.

The coverlines go down the side of the page, being sure not to distract attention from the central image. They are fairly small, yet add a lot to the cover page, as they show the reader what sort of things they will find in the magazine.

 

Rough Ideas for my Contents Page

These are my rough ideas for my contents page. Contents pages are very important, as they highlight the best bits of the magazine & show the reader how to get there, which is vital if you are trying to persuade someone to buy the magazine.

The contents page will contain a continuous house style, similar to the style & colours used in the cover page. This helps give the magazine an organised feel, and will help the reader identify with the style used for this particular magazine. Similar colours such as blue & pink, and similar shapes such as titles contained in circles, will help create a continuous, organised feel.

From research of other magazines, I have noticed that they do not show every page on the contents page, usually only the best ones. One, to save space & keep the page looking tidy, two, to persuade the reader to read only the best bits, as these are the bits which will convince them most to buy the said magazine.

I have also included a small image, to give the page more interest & prevent it from looking too boring.

Colour Theme

Upon researching official student magazines, I have decided that the best colour theme to go with would be a variety of blues, as blue is not considered too childish, nor is it considered too boring.

I have also considered using the colour pink to give the page more contrast & to make it more eye-catching, however I am still undecided on this.

 

Evidence of student magazines using primarily the colour blue.

Textual Analysis of a Student Magazine

Pictured above is my textual analysis of the front cover of a student magazine. This includes a detailed analysis of its masthead, coverlines, central image & headline.

Plan

Using InDesign and Photoshop, we must produce the front page of a new student/college magazine; featuring a close-up photograph of a student, some appropriate pieces of text, and a masthead. We must also produce the layout of a contents page, to further demonstrate our understanding of using desktop publishing software and image manipulation programs.

Week One

1. Blog post on the generic conventions of a student magazine.
2. Complete textual analysis of student magazine & post on blog.
3. Blog post on initial or potential ideas for a student magazine.
4. Research the target audience & post findings on blog.
5. Experimentation with colour schemes and fonts, post on blog.
6. Experiment with mode of address & name ideas & post on blog.
7. Produce a rough front cover & contents page. Blog post.

Week Two

1. Organise photoshoot & take photographs for magazine.
2. Complete the front cover & post on blog.
3. Begin designing the contents page.

Week Three

1. Complete design of the contents page & post it on blog.
2. Start drafting evaluation of the magazine & our findings & complete for homework.

Deadline: Friday the 9th of October

The Generic Conventions of a Student Magazine

 

After researching many different student magazines, I noted down a couple of things they contained & had in common. This knowledge should help make my student magazine seem more professional, as it will now contain more of the things which are commonly found in student magazines. In my magazine I have included varying fonts, local events, continuity in house style, and eye-contact within pictures.