Cover Analysis

Posted by Thomas Knapp | Posted in | Posted on 22:01:00

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Below are a selection of very brief analysis' of various magazine front covers. Each point explains what is on the magazine front cover followed by an explanation of what it is meant to achieve.
(click on each image to see it at a larger scale).
This one is an overview of a 'Q' magazine front cover with the main feature being Lily Allen.

This one is an overview of 'Flavour' magazine front cover with the main feature being Alexandra Burke.


This one is an overview of 'Kerrang' magazine front cover with the main feautre being Biffy Clyro.

Task and Opening Ideas

Posted by Thomas Knapp | Posted in , | Posted on 17:46:00

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Main task: the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine (if done as group task, each member of the group to produce an individual edition of the magazine, following the same house style).
All images and text used must be original, produced by the candidate(s), minimum of four images per candidate.
The presentation of the research, planning and evaluation may take the form of any one, or combination of two or more, of the following:
a presentation using slideshow software such as Powerpoint;
a blog or website;
a podcast;
a DVD with 'extras'
.
The task given was to create a new music magazine for 2009. The brief stated that we must create a front cover, contents page and double page spread, the magazine had to include at least four original images taken ourselves. The vague brief allowed us to use our imagination to find a gap in the music magazine market, which would target a particular audience. I chose to focus on student aged between 16-19 as I felt I would be able to relate to them best. I decided that having a wider range of music would attract a wider audience. After establishing my target audience I then began to make decisions about the tone and language of my magazine. Although I wanted my magazine to be an "easy read" I also wanted it to be informative, to achieve this I planned to have "chatty" language in interviews and some articles, mixed with informative language in other articles. This would hopefully attract the older audience in the age spanned I plan to target. Before I start creating and planning the sections of my magazine I decided to carried out research into popular music magazines to analyse their layout, language and how they have changed over time.
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Publishing Companies research
Mojo - Bauer Consumer Media - 98,484 (-2.0%)
Q - Bauer Consumer Media - 94,811 (-8.0%)
Uncut - IPC Media Ltd - 75,518 (-13.3%)
Classic Rock - Future Publishing Ltd - 71,242 (1.5%)
Metal Hammer - Future Publishing Ltd - 41,777 (-16.9%)
Kerrang! - Bauer Consumer Media - 41,125 (-21.3%)
New Musical Express - IPC Media Ltd - 38,486 (-20.6%)
Word Magazine - Development Hell LTD - 26,555 (-22.5%)
mixmag - Development Hell LTD - 26,116 (-13.4%)
BBC Music Magazine - BBC Worldwide - 42,810 (-5.2%)
Classic FM - The Magazine - Haymarket Consumer Media - 32,534 (-9.0%)
Gramophone - Haymarket Consumer Media - 32,313 (-6.7%)
Terrorizer - Dark Arts Ltd - 11,641 (-15.6%)
Rhythm - Future Publishing Ltd - 8,700 (-8.2%)
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Bauer Media owns more than eighty media brands for people with all different people with different interests. The different magazines they produce include heat, GRAZIA, Closer, MCN, FHM, Parker's, MATCH, Magic 105.4, Kiss 100, Mojo, Kerrang!, all-new Q Radio and the Big City Network, their group of twenty local radio stations. I would use them to publish my magazine as they have knowledge of rock magazines from Kerrang!, Q and Mojo and the other magazines they sell are based at the same target audience as I am using.
I have chosen Bauer as my priority choice to publish 'Ascent' magazine. I believe the conventions it offers would benefit the increasing popularity and disrtribution of my magazine. Bauer already produce such successful magazine names such as Kerrang and mojo which both have a similar target audience as 'Ascent' therefore I believe it is a suitable producer for my magazine.

Magazine Analysis

Posted by Thomas Knapp | Posted in | Posted on 17:28:00

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General
· Company- Wenner Media LLC
· Cost- $4.99
· Published- Bi- weekly
· Circulation- 1.4 million

The magazine 'RollingStone' was named after the 1948 muddy waters song of the same name. The magazine was known for its political coverage beginning in the 1970s. Rolling Stone Magazine changed its format in the 1990s to appeal to younger readers, often focusing on young television or film actors and pop music. The magazine resumes its traditional mix of content, including in-depth political stories, and maintains a high circulation.
The Cover
The covers image is based on aesthetic criteria: the quality of the image, its uniqueness and how forcefully it communicates. This edition of the magazine features Megan Fox. She is shown to be sitting down, with her head turned towards the audience. This evokes emotion from her to the reader, so there is some sort of connection between the two. With her head slightly tilted forward shows that the emotion exerted is a superior one, combined with the facial expression creates that dominant feel, exerting sternness. The colour black seems to be a prominent colour of her overall appearance. As her top, make-up/tattoos are all black. The dominance of this colour is used to give the image a seductive feel, but also tells the reader that she has a darker side. The harsh black colour and the bright red colour of the mast-head are juxtaposed together; her head is in front of the mast-head, not showing the whole name. This is a technique which the magazine is known for, as in previous additions, there is something in front of the mast-head, blocking the whole name. The audience still knows that the magazine is Rolling Stone, as the font is used in all of the magazines, which is easily identified. The white background draws the reader’s attention to Megan Fox, because if it was another colour or a backdrop, then it would take away the attention from her (another use of juxtaposition).
Her printed name is not the main focus point of the subheading, in light grey it is less dominant then the quotations; ‘America’s sexiest bad girl’. This is done so the reader immediately associated the image with this subheading. The image of Megan Fox also shows that she is a powerful figure in the public eye. It makes sense for the Rolling Stone magazine to feature such a person on the cover as it would bring in more audience who would be interested on what was written. The main colours throughout the cover are Grey, Red and Black. Only having three main colours is a good technique as its just simple and not over the top. If there were loads of different colours all over the place, the reader would be processing too many things, and possibly turned off with the over-exaggerated colours. The actual front cover layout is very simplistic. By not overloading it with many focus points makes it look very sophisticated. The use of colours and typefaces are very formal and a well thought-out design. By have a plain background and a basic colour scheme actually draws the reader’s eyes more to the subheadings and image as they are not competing against other material to be the main focus point of the front page.
The masthead is placed across the top of the page, it is positioned in the middle but it stretches across the width of the whole cover. It is mainly covered by the picture of the people on the magazine, so this would mean that the people who this issue is targeted towards will already know the magazine and would be more interested in looking at the celebrities than the brand of the magazine.

The font is the classic rolling stone masthead font as it symbolizes the magazine as a trademark. The colour of the title is in its usual red and black. In this issue the distinct red is the only stand out colour on this covers theme. Even though it is partly covered, the readers eye is drawn to by the colour after the absorbing the main focus point which is the image.


Kerrang have gone for a big photo on the front, the band featured is 'Biffy Cylro' who are a well known band so without the use of colours/words the magazine has already started to interest the readers. The lead singers photo stands out against the rest and covers the title this gives the idea they are a big band and they mean business. It gives a sense of power over the reader. Kerrangs title is in simple colours (black and white) however it still has a big impact with a simple lined pattern on the letters by doing this it makes it stand out more. As no other magazines have the same sort of design on their logo it makes it unique and individual which means it is a memorable name and relates to the individual style of the magazine.

The use of a simple red at the top and bottom of the page adds a impact and a slight bit of colour to the page as a result draws the reader in. The use of little photos on the page also shows what other interesting stories which will interest the reader are featured.



The contents page for kerrang uses the grid layout. Using the grid layout means things are set in order. Not only does it look neat but it also gives a nice layout for many articles to be included. The use of boxes to show a different article on each page means its clear. With a photo for each article it draws the readers attention to it. Colours are once again kept simple black and white for the main background/text and yellow for the numbers so they stand out. With the use of simple colours the reader isnt distracted away from the main things. With the use of one red square you will want to read it. By advertising subscription in this block they have made sure the reader has read it. The stories which havnt got as much priority are just listed to the right this gives good layout and doesnt mean they will take up too much space where main stories can be advertised. Language on the contents page is simple there are no main articles its just titles and page numbers so can be just left with box standard simple words. The use of different text to highlight the title of the page lets the readers know what the page is doing for the reader.

The band is presented as being a dark band this is shown through the photo and the style/presentation of the page. The photo is in black and white whichadds a different feeling to the image. Coloured photos give the feeling of warmth and if you can relate to it where as greyscale/black and white photos have a block where its us looking at them and gives a fierce loook towards the audience which suits there identity/style. The bold big letters have a sense of making a statement and have a 'solid' feeling so are strong and meaningful. With the black colour being used again it all adds to their identity. The use of black and white also adds an older feeling to the photo, this generally fits in with the age of the band. There is also a large amount of green used on the spread this highlights certain pieces of text which would interest the audience more than other areas. It also acts as a divider between the questions and answers which the interviewer has set. The language used in the article generally stays the same throughout however changes when the band members talk to the interviewer. With the use of bad language throughout the interview it could be agued that the article could be aimed to appeal to a wider audience by using phrases/words which are more suitable for an older audience. Having an interview lilke this means the audience are able to relate to the band and find out facts/information which they wouldnt get from songs/internet. Kerrang have used Slayer as a main article because the target audience will know who the band is as they are very well known.

This is the front cover for a NME magazine. The use of a big photo taking up the whole page makes a big statement the photo of The Wombats and the silly poses of the members links in with the story about them 'why britains gone silly for the lords of the indie dancefloor'. It also makes a link to the fact they are an 'indie band' and being different means they can get away with being slightly weird in their poses. The use of colours on the page are kept to Yellow, Blue and White mainly this makes the text stand out more on the photo as they are bright and catch the eye. With the use of bold big writing it will be the writing which the audience are drawn to first and not the photo this is a strange thing for a magazine to do as they aim to attract the audience by who is being featured in it.


Having 2 mini photos on the front cover shows that there are other 'big stories' in the magazine but they arnt as big or important as The Wombats cover. The cover will appeal to the target audience - students - as its bright and makes a statement. Compared to 'gossip magazines' and others aimed at different audiences its laid out differently with slanted writing and there being no order of where things go.

The contents page is very jam packed which means that the audience may not read it all. This isnt an ideal layout for a contents page as you want the readers to read ALL of the magazine so that they want to buy the next one. The main stories such as ones linked to big name artists like on the front cover are in bigger which means they catch the eye of the audience.
The colours used on this page are simple - black white and red. This is a simple colour scheme however it still attracts the reader. With a simple red line to the side the colour makes you want to look at it so you will read the information. The categories given for the contents are in bold this helps the reader get to the area of the magazine they want quicker. The big bold writing is simple but effective. Having the photos 'mismatch' gives the feeling/look of a scrap book. Many young people make scrap books which then links the magazine to the audienence. By doing the scrap book look it gives it a unusual/new look which most magazines dont follow. the language used on the contents page is simple and doesnt have any puns/aliteration in. This then shows the audience its not really a page to concentrate on but instead just refer to it.


This is a typical 'all about the band' double spread. The name of the band 'the teenagers' links in with the photo of the band. The photo of the band has been taken in a bedroom with photos of typical things guys may have on their walls for example pictures of bands and girls. The colours used also link to the band with a stereotypical view that the colour blue is for boys it links into the band being an all boy band. The other colours used - black and white are simple but have a modern and simple look. Being an indie magazine means that they will generally be different from other magazines which this does. With the main spread on the band they have covered the page with a big picture this and the stories on the page fit in with the 'grid' layout which most magazines follow. This makes it look as if it has order and effort has been put into it. With most of the page being focussed on the band there is a little article on the side about 'what everyone is talking about' this shows that its not something which should be mainly read but as your on the page you might aswel read it. The language used is simple and easy to understand, this could be because of the target audience being students meaning its easier for them to understand but it also could be because of the way the band is and the portrayal of them.

NME MEDIA PACK

NME Readers are entertainment enthusiasts! 2008
• 80% of NME readers feel that music is an important
part of their lives
• 79% of NME readers like to listen to new bands
• 63% specially choose to listen to indie/guitar bands
• 49% specially choose to listen to live bands in studio
• 52% are interested in taking a musical
course/qualification
• 36% are thinking of buying a musical instrument in the
next year
NME readers are techno savvy
• 72% have a broadband Internet connection at home
• 67% have bought something online in the last 12
months
• 59% agree they like to keep up with the latest
technologies
More about the reader
• 34% are working full time, 18% are working part time
and 26% are full time students
• 62% read at least 3 out of 4 issues
• Almost half (49%) have been reading NME for at least
3 years
• 84% think the magazine gives them what they want
spending an average of 46 minutes reading each
issue
Key Facts
Price £2.20
Frequency Weekly
Circulation 56,284
Readership 411,000
Launch Date 1952
Male/Female 73%/27%
Average Age 25
ABC1 73%
Target Market Men 17-30
For more information please contact:
Tom MacDougall T: 0203 148 2557
E: tom_macdougall@ipcmedia.com
IPC Media Ltd., Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark St., Classified 8th Floor, SE1 0SU

Preliminary Task

Posted by Thomas Knapp | Posted in | Posted on 10:27:00

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Preliminary exercise: using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Additionally you must produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate your grasp of DTP.

The following is the brief we were given at the beginning of the year for the main task.
The preliminary task we were given was to create a front cover and contents page for the school magazine. We had to take the images for the magazine ourselves.

Analysis of Front cover I feel that the front cover illustrated well, the image I had planned for my magazine. I feel I chose an appropriate colour scheme that corresponded well with the picture and school colours. I am pleased with the font for the mast head as I was aiming to achieve a 'stamp Like' feature which I believe has worked affectively. The subheadings I used on the front cover ink in with everyday school life activities which maintains the tasks aim of being a new school magazine.

Analysis of Contents I feel the contents page can immediately be associated with the front cover. The colour scheme corresponds exactly. The layout is very simplistic, enabling the reader to follow what articles are in the magazine easily. One criticism I would give it is that more images could have been used linking to the interior articles title.
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