Friday 12 November 2010

Front Cover Analysis
L
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Q magazine has a wider range for the music genre, for example Metal Hammer magazine has one identity of music genre. The masthead is a large Q, I would say that this masthead is very simple compared to mastheads on other magazines, but the simplicity works for the magazine and still creates a large impact for the audience as it is attention grabbing. The masthead background is in the colour red, red normally connotates negativity like danger, blood or emergency but in this case I believe it the connotations are energy, lust and power. The body language of Cheryl creates a sexual tension between the reader and the magazine, again drawing the viewer in. The main image is a close up camera shot, a close up shot may be something I will use when creating my magazine as I believe it creates a larger impact and it is clearer. The colour red is continually used throughout this front cover, like the red text, this allows a continual house style. The masthead is positioned in a left third, this is used as magazines are stacked, and the masthead is still visible. The masthead is above the main image, creating the sense that the visibility of the masthead is more important than the image, but this also could of been done because it is such a simple masthead that it needs to be laid out above the main image so that it is clear to the viewer what magazine it is. The letter Q is in the colour white, white is a continual colour used throughout this front page.
The main headline is red and white, and superimposed onto the main image. The text colour stands out against the dimmer, muted background. The starp line across the top of the page is used for anchorage to draw the audience in, kind of like a message to the viewers. The fonts used are all similar therefore helping establish a house style. I really like how the magazine has laid out one of the cover lines, with the varieties of re sized text, this is used to so that one cover line does not take up a lot of the limited space. This is definitely something I will consider when creating my magazine, it looks stylish and modern. A puff is used on this magazine on the right side of the magazine to advertise; from the description it is advertising a feature for the next magazine. The house style of the magazine is red, black and white. The harshness of the main image is quite creepy, as if they want to convey a 'dead' look for Cheryl.


I- The institution for this magazine is Bauer media, this institution produces radio, T.V and websites too. Q magazine has a radio station and a website which will draw in a larger demographic for the magazine, allowing more money to be made for the magazine. Q magazine is a monthly magazine, therefore a larger and more informative news that's happened month to month, monthly magazines can be put off as the news inside could be old. The price of Q magazine is £3.99, this is expensive for a magazine but the price reflects the quality. The price is normally influenced by the target audience, for example this is an expensive magazine but for a monthly basis can be afforded by even the younger generation with not a lot of money.

I- The ideology of this magazine is

A- The audience for Q magazine would be for people interested in pop music, and in the C2 - E socio-economic group, this can also be known as a niche audience there is clear separation between audiences. The age will probably be between 15-35 year old, Q magazine has has many different varieties of music artists with a large age range therefore anyone could essentially read this magazine. Q magazine is aimed for both females and males.

R- I think that Q magazine portrays a positive message, but this can be said for any magazine sold on the shelves in shops. I believe that this main image of Cheryl portrays a desirable message and aspirational morals. Synergy is used to sell the artist, any upcoming events, tours or album releases in the magazine this is returned by the artists selling the magazine mainly because of their popularity with world.

Contents Page Analysis

L - This contents page has a straight forward layout with a consistent use of the same font style. the house style of the front page has been transferred over to the contents page by using same colours, red, black and white. The plain blank canvas of white is a colour that is easier to work with, in terms of allowing text layered on top to be clear and readable. There's a sense of separation between the text so that its not just one long block text, the red taps separate the categories. The masthead has been superimposed onto a long strip that stretches across the page, a is simple font has been used for the contents masthead, that is clear. The ident for this magazine has been positioned next to the masthead text, it is only small but this keeps with the consistent house style. Page numbers all have the same colour, red. By having the different colours for page numbers and a short description of the page allows it to be clear. The large image of a band is large and takes up most of the room on this page; this has been done to highlight a main story that is in the magazine, a small white text box has been superimposed onto the image with a short description. A smaller image at the bottom of the page has been separated from the main contents page text by having a different layout, this section of text has its own masthead, with page numbers that are red. Instead of having a plain white background the text has been layered on top of a grey colour background, this grey can also be seen used for the front cover, again, this is a use of consistent house style.

I- see cover analysis for institution

I- see cover analysis for ideology

A
- see cover analysis for audience

R-This contents page creates a laid back feel, its not in your face with loads of images and text, it is simple and modern and does it's job of informing the viewer. The image of the band creates a sense

Double Page Spread Analysis
L - This double page spread consists of one large main image that is stretched across from the corner of one page across to the other page. The image of Billie Joe is the main focal point of this page, he is centered therefore this is the first thing looked at by the viewer the camera shot is a live shot, this shot influences the how the viewer feels. Billy Joe look dedicated you can see the passion just from this one image. The layout of this page consists of one large headline that is separated in the same width so that it stretches across the whole page. The head line 'American Idols' also consists of the stretched over two page layout, each letter is equally spaced in width creating a sense of consistency equal proportion.
Q's ident once again has been included, again creating consistency and allowing identity. A small section of white text has been included by being superimposed onto the main image, the white text stands out from the darker background main image. This page has two block sections of text going down the right hand side of the page.


I- see cover analysis for institution


I- see cover analysis for ideology


A- see cover analysis for audience


R-

Wednesday 10 November 2010


Textual Analysis 2

Billboard magazine is a weekly American magazine, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. I really like the colour scheme that is used it is instantly eye-catching. I like how the 'Billboard' title is behind the band. This is not set out like a conventional music magazine instead they main headline is in the centered and in a low position but this still works for the magazine and grabs the right attentions. The font used is clear and understandable.













Here is a contetns page, i chose this to analyse becuase i really like the layout and simplicty of it. The contents title is small but is eye-catching. The use of images instead of fully textual based content makes to contents page more fun and ejoyable to read. There is a larger image used of a woman this may be a main feature of the magazine so they are just advertising the feature more. There is clear separtation between the text this allows it to be more easy to follow. A limited colour pallet has been used by only using three colours, blue, balck and white. the white background allows the text to stand out better, again creating an easy to read contents page. The only thing that I don't like about this contents page is how small the content page numbers are, i would make these bigger to create an even easier layout.



Textual Anaylsis 3
Rollingstone magazine was founded in 1967 and is an american based magazine. The cover has all the typical conventions of a magazine. It is visible to see that the masthead has been superimposed behind the main photographic image of Lady Gaga, this tells the audience that it is a well known institution. The main image is in the centre of the magazine allowing Lady Gaga to be dominant to the audience, I would say this has a sexual connotation, therefore appealing mostly to a male audience, although this may just be a photoshoot to emphasise her diversity. 
There is a main housestyle of the the colour pink, pink connotates love, purity, compassion and happiness. The magazine has many cover lines, creating the sense that this magazine is loaded with information
 I would say that this magazine has a cross genre, by having different varities of arists that are featured on this magazine, like rock and rap arists. The coverlines stand out because the are large, clear and white, and it all works well against the pink. The text varies from large to small and bold, this different varities of text allows the text to be more appealing to the reader.
 The use of bubbles is is used as a theme for this front cover, we can see bubbles in the background and a bubble outfit is worn by Lady Gaga. Behind her here is a light shining creating a lit silhoette, this light could also represent her importance in the music industry. I recognised that the simpicity of the whole front cover and the simplicty of Lady Gaga's outfit could represent each other, therefore I understand that for some magazines they will tend to match and have a representation for everything, right down to the lipstick. Lady Gaga also has pink lipstick on.
 

I- The institution for this magazine is Wenner Media, the publication has covered music and pop culture for more than four decades. Wenner Media operates websites for its magazines as well. Rollingstone magazine is a biweekly seller, and costs £3.99, again this is expensive for a magazine but the price reflects the quality. As this magazine is a bi-weekly it can be affored by a large target audience.

I- The ideology for this magazine is

A- The audience for Rollingstone magazine is for people that are interested in music pop, and can be in the C1 - E socio-economic group. I believe becuase this magazine has been around for many decades an older generation may buy this magazine as it may be a magazine they bought when they were younger. Rollingstone magazine is aimed for both Female and male genders. There is no particular social group.

R- I think that Rollingstone magazine creates a positive message for diversity in the pop industry, Lady Gaga is one of a kind, and someone who isnt a stereotype of anyone else. This therefore, especially for a younger age generation to think positive that it is ok to be different. The pink colouring of the mgazine suggests a blubbly and fun type of artists and gives us a representation of how people expect Lady Gaga to act. Rollingstone magazine has a larger demographic that other pop magazines, as it featires a wider variety of varies music, from rock to rap music. This allows this magazine to be target varities of people.



Contents Page Analysis



Double Page Spread Analysis Although this is not the correct double page spread for the feature of Lady Gaga in Rollingstone magazine, I have chosen this double page spread. It is obvious that in most magazines there is a constant house style from the front cover to the double page spread. This is useful for when i start to design both.
This double page spread has one large photographic image of the killers that is spread across both pages, this image takes all of the page room. The photograpicimage is a medium close-up of The Killers. Normally you would find that groups are shot full length, but becuase this is a double page spread it look better to have a medium close-up. The image has been edited to black and white, although i have no idea what the colour image looks like, I prefer the black and white editing. The killers are dressed all in black allowing the faces on this image to stand out.

Music GenresDance/Electronica - Basement Jaxx
Pop - Rihanna
Rock - Kings of Leon
R & B - Usher
Indie - The Foals
Drum 'n' Bass - DJ Hype
Classical - Anna Netrebko
Hip Hop - 50 Cent
Metal - Matallica
Blues - Jimmy Reed

I am familiar with different genres of music, although I do not favor every music genre.I have decided that I will be creating a music magazine for a Pop music genre.

Thursday 4 November 2010

LIIAR of the brief L- My front cover must inclue a masthead, It is important to have a large noticable masthead to allow it to stand out. Different colours and fonts can be used to reflect the genre of the music magazine.

Text image - the image can be a range of camera shots, this really depends on what im wanting to depict, If this was an image of a singer then it would make sense to have a medium close up as it is only one person and it will fill up the large space of the front cover. If i were photographing a band I would take a long shot camera shot, as there is around 4 members in a band this is alot of people to photograph.

Colour is a an important element of a magazine, If i were to create text that was bold fonts, muted colours this would be perfect for rock/heavy metal magazines. If I were to used Vibrant rounded fonts this could work well with younger music, and pop.


Synergy - Magazines usually feature celebrities that are well known this helps how popular the magazine is, Synergy is a term used to describe that the celebrity promotes the magazine and the magazine promotes the celebrity. The magazine will promote their now album, film or tour.
I- I will be creating a brand new magazine for people interested in pop music, I will using Bauer Media to publish my magazine, I want my magazine to be monthly glossy.
I- I would like my magazine to connotate a positive message, i will exclude social groups. I want my magazine to advertise music that is most popular and enjoyable to my target audience. My magzine will be aspirational for people dedicated to music.
A
- My target audience will be people who are intersted in music my preferred age will be between the ages of 18-28, but I will finalise this after researching.
R- It is always important to convey a possitive representation, 
The Brief

To design and create a front cover, contents page and double page spread for a new music magazine. All content of the magazine must contain original work with a minimum of four images.