Entity Front Cover Ideas...

Here I've been looking into different edits of the photo for my magazines front cover. I've also looked into the positioning of the name of the magazine as obviously it needs to be in a prominant place that is clear to see and also stands out from the other text on the cover. I've also looked a little into colours as well as you can see I mainly stuck with the idea of having a red logo/name as the magazine is based around Indie Rock music and so I wanted to stick with the traditional red lettering to represent rebellion, youth, boldness and confidence e.t.c I also looked into a white logo/name which would only work if I put it on a dark background. I also looked into using purple which is quite a feminine colour and links in with the purple hair I gave the artist. I also tried positioning the logo/name across the artists arm as a different layout technique which I think worked quite effectivly, however maybe not for the magazine logo/name as it does not stand out enough. The font I have decided to use for the logo/name is a font called Olympiques which has a rough, grungey look to it which is exactly what I wanted for my logo name.

Original Photo's...

Here are some original pictures that I am thinking of using for my Music Magazine 'Entity'. The one in the top right I am planning on using for my front cover. The others will be used for the double page spread and in the contents page.

Double Page Spread Layout Ideas:

My double page speard will have a picture of the band/artist that takes up all of the background on the double page spread. I will then make the title and name of the artist very large to draw attention to the article. The colour scheme will depend on the colour scheme in the photo as obviously I would not want the colours to clash. I want to have one main picture rather than lots of other pictures as I want it to look more clean and simple, making the main title stand out alot more and look attaractive and pull the consumer into reading the article. I want to keep the text in columns becasue I think it looks more formal and informative for the consumer. I also want the artists name and the title of the article to be in a different font and colour to one another. This is break them up and catch the eye of the consumer.

Contents Page Layouts:

Dolby

Don't forget that you need key info such as price and issue date on a front cover too- allow space for them.

Looking into Magazine Layouts...

Dolby

Some really creative ideas here Sophie. i look forward to seeing some of your drafts.

Indie Rock Art Work Ideas...

Here are some examples of Indie Rock artwork that I personally love and want to incorporate this sort of style into my house style for my magazine. I love the grungy torn up feel that these pictures have. I want to try and focus this style especially on my front cover and contents page if I possible. It may look too weird and arty rather than the front of a music magazine but I want my music magazine to look different and attract consumers to buy it because it is different. Also it would make the magazine look more up to date as it has the youth and teenage appeal becasue of the roughness of the layering in teh pictures. The pictures are also very colourful and therefore stand out. The fact that the pictures in them are slightly distorted or changed in some way makes it look more interesting. I especially like the top right and bottom left pictures. However like I said before, the pictures are very intricate and so it would be difficult to recreate this and morph it into a good looking, attracting music magazine, but I would like to incorportae some of the imagery and layering...

Colour Schemes

Here I have been looking into possible colour schemes for my music magazine. The genre will be Indie Rock and I have to take into consideration what different colours symbolise and represent. Typical Indie Rock magazines take the colour scheme of red, black and white. Red traditionally represents rebellion, blood, anger and violence but also love, passion and romance. White has always been seen to represent purity and peace and tranquility, whereas black is seen to be the colour of death, violence, terror and fear. Combined they create a rough, rebellious image for a music magazine, fitting in with the genre of Indie Rock and therefore the artists that they feature. It also helps that red, white and black all contrast one another so that they all stand out if they are layered. The white creates a neautral backing colour and black also is used for the same effect but is the complete contrast to the white. The red is used as it is a big, bold, rebellious colour that stands out from the other two colours to attract that consumers attention.

The Particular colour schemes that I liked when looking into colours, where the ones that I have circled in red. The first one is the typical red, white and black. I like this becasue it has been effectivly tried and tested in most other music magazines of the same genre and works, and attracts the consumer. However it is also this reason that I would not necessarily want o use it becasue it has been used so many times before and is nothing new or exciting. The next colour scheme on the right is black, purple and red.

Practically the same as the last one however I tried purple in with the red and the black to create a new look to the red and black. Purple represents difference and romance as well as good judgment and happiness. I would also consider adding white so that it would balance the colours out and there would be a neutral colour. Together I think the colours would stand out and add a touch of difference to the look of the traditional Indie Rock Magazine.

The next colour scheme is to the left and is simply black, grey and light grey. This may seem quite boring, however the simplicity of these colours means that they look appealing. I may consider adding another brighter colour such as red or purple to have something that stands out from the black and grey. Black, Grey and light grey would stand out more of the picture of the artist was in colour, however if I decided to put the picture into greyscale, then none of the colours would stand out and the magazine cover would look flat and boring which is definately not what I want to achieve.

The next colour scheme to the left is black, crimson and bright red. All these colours represent death, blood, danger, anger, violence and rebellion which makes them perfect for an indie rock magazine. However the crimson and bright red would not be able to be put together if they were layered so I would consider adding white into the equation to again use it as a sense of balancing out the other colours. The reds would be bold and out there which is the kind of thing I would want for the magazine to attract the consumer.

The last colour scheme is purple, pink and black. For me, pink represents femininity, young love, sweets and relationships. The pink and purple especially give off conotations of females and pop which is why I added black in, however it still seems rather feminim and would not attract a male audience which is not what I want. It is this reason that I may not decide to choose this particular colour scheme. However I do like the colours and depending on the photo I use for the front cover, I may use it if it fits better than the other colour schemes.

Mrs D

Well done Sophie, you are catching up and provide good detail. Try and include some statistical data regrading Product Placement to improve. You also need to have a look at the house style of mags.

MAGAZINE NAMES AND FONTS:

Here I've just been thinking about magazine names and logos for it. I want it to look rough and slightly grungy but not too rock looking more unique looking than anything else in a weird sort of font unlike the bold stiff look of Q and NME magazine:
Creature, Human, Entity, Altered, Retort, Liberty, Mortal or Immortal,
Beast, Corrosion, Strident, Clamorous, Destroyer, Sound, Ultra

Here are some idea's of fonts for Ultra, Human, Entity and Creature that I liked...

ULTRA FONT IDEAS:

HUMAN FONT IDEAS:

CREATURE FONT IDEAS:

ENTITY FONT IDEAS:

Research Influencing Planning And Product Placement

Research Influencing Planning:
My product reseach has influenced my planning as I have decided to create and design an Indie/Alternative Rock magazine as this seemed to be the most popular type of music magazine. My magazine will be aimed towards 16 - 18 yr olds as this is the age group I asked to take my questionnaire so therefore I will base my magazine around their most popular answers in the results. I will make the front cover seem packed and exciting but organised and clear, I will do this by using different fonts and sizing, I saw this was effective when analysising existing magazine covers and looking into how they make their covers exciting and different. I will have a band on the front cover rather than a solo artist as according to my questionnaire people prefer to read a music magazine with a band on it.

For the contents page I want it to look interesting, but at the same time be informative and contain pictures more than text so it looks more interesting. I want to keep a clear, format like that in NME magazine so that it is easier for the consumer to read and I also prefer the neater looking format compared to how Kerrang set their contents page out.

For my double page spread, I would like to include a lot of pictures or just one big main picture like in Q magazine on the article about Beady Eye. I want to create the colour scheme around the colours in the picture taken for example on what the artist is wearing. I want my double page spread to be on a bands rather than an individual artist and so therefore need to think about creating some kind of photo shoot so as I have lots of pictures to choose from and use if I need to. My double page spread will look clear and open rather than fussy and packed becasue I want it to be informative. I will include details about upcoming music, gigs, events/festivals and an interview with the band. I also want to maybe have a discology section if there is room on the pages.

The house style of my magazine must be the same for the front cover, contents page and doube page spread that I am designing. I want to include the scrapbooky, rough looking, messy look especially in the contents page. I will use the same fonts, and colours throughout the magazine and will make sure that the pictures are all in the same sort of style as every magazine contains images that have a certain style to them. I want to include pugs and deco images/cliparts on the pages, mainly in the backgrounds to make them look more fussy and interesting.

PRODUCT PLACEMENT:
I would make my magazine look interesting and stand out using bright and contrasting colour schemes to attract consumers to buy the magazine. I would want to sell my magazine at leading supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and also smaller establishments such as Co-Op, Mace, Tesco express and local newsagents. Obviously in larger chain stores, my magazine will be up against a tougher and larger range of existing music magazines such as NME, Rolling Stones and Kerrang. I would want my magazine to be placed next to them to show the consumer that it is a top of the range Indie Rock music magazine.

In smaller chain stores, there will be less competition as there will be a smaller range of magazines to choose from and therefore my magazine would hopefully be more successful. I would advertise my magazine through the internet and create my own website for the magazine, I would also using posters and other forms of media to advertise the launch of my magazine and attract the consumer to buy it. My magazine would contain the same format and layout each time so that the consumer wouldn’t get confuse, I would also keep the name of the magazine the same as this would act as its logo also.

Analysis of Double Page Spreads

NME MAGAZINE - DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD - GLASVEGAS:

The double page spread is about NME’s featured bands Glasvegas. The lead singer James Allan is the background of the piece wearing white trousers that look as though they are tinted red due to the light that was used in the photo shoot. The background in the picture seems to be a greyish white colour which fades in and out to a more reddish spectrum. James Allan’s chest is covered with black writing which the reader can see clearly on the front cover. It makes him seem rebellious and tough but also big into his music as it is lyrics from Glasvegas’s new song. The font on his chest is also the font used as the main title’s font. The title is in bold caps locks and instead of being black like it is on the singer’s chest, it is white so that it contrasts with the background and stands out. The title is also a quote as it is in speech marks and is slightly obscured behind the singer to make it seem as though it is written on the wall. The red and white used symbolises possible danger, warnings, rock or maybe even a new start. The font of the title also looks as though it has been written out by someone and therefore looks scruffy and untidy, but also represents rebellion and vandalism as it is thick like spray paint and looks as though it should be on the wall behind the artist.

The sub heading of the piece is again in a different font and in italics to make it look more interesting and different. The band’s name and the reporters name are both highlighted in black to make them stand out from the rest of the passage. They are also in bold to emphasis their importance and to show the reader the main names if the consumer is skimming the page. The sub title gives the reader a tester for the article and what it is about.

Below the sub heading is a white line which divides the sub heading from the article so that it doesn’t all flow together. Underneath the thin white line is the photographers name which is caps lock black but does not stand out as much had it done if it were white for example, this is probably because it is not a greatly important piece of information. Below this is a white box pug that contains two columns of the interview in black time’s new roman font. The beginning letter of the whole paragraph is an ‘f’ which stands out as it is red and much larger than the rest of the text, this draws the readers interest to it and makes them read on as it is a catchy technique to pull readers into the article. The ‘f’ is also in a different font to the rest of the article which again backs up the point about drawing the reader in to reading the article.

The overall layout is mainly focused on the picture of James Allan rather than anything else and also the large quote/title of the article. Both stand out because they take up the most room and are therefore more interesting to look at because it is in a different layout to the rest of the magazine’s articles.


KERRANG - DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD ANALYSIS - MUSE:

The main part of the article is obviously the picture of the band members of muse. Most of the page is taken up with picture with Matt Bellamy centre and further forward than the bassist and drummer who are slightly behind him. Their clothing all matches due to the white, black and grey colour scheme and makes them look as if they are glam rock instead of normal rock due to the patterns and texture of the clothing. The background is also grey and fades to a slightly darker grey when it reaches the edges of the page. It makes the image look in a way sort of metal like grungy, there are pugs used in the form of stars which again add to the glam rock approach that the images gives off. There is a border that runs across the top of the page in a light grey colour to again stand out from the darker grey background, reading ‘MUSE’ over and over again with black stars to break up the words.

The main title ‘All that glitters’ is in 2 different fonts. ‘All that’ is in what looks like an Arial Black sort of font, it is in a light grey outlined with black to make it stand out from the dark background. The ‘Glitters’ part of the text is in a fancy looking font and in white which again stands out from the dark background. It is also much larger than the previous mentioned text which suggests it is the more interesting part of the title. It seems to fade slightly out towards to right hand side of the picture. The edges of the page are given the effect as if they’ve been torn or ripped which makes Muse seem rough and rock like, it interestingly counter acts the connotations linked with stars to make them again seem like a glam rock band. The first paragraph of writing on the left hand side is in the same font style and type as the first part of the title. Except for that it is in white and by the end of the paragraph fades out to grey. It has a slight shadow behind it to make it stand out from the background and is all in caps lock to again stand out to the consumer and catch their eye. It also makes it seem more important. The second piece of text begins with a large letter ‘M’ in light grey with a black outline. It also has a white star behind it to mark the official start of the article. Matt Bellamy’s name is in caps lock to again show the start of the paragraph. The actual article is in a very small font and is black white doesn’t stand out too well against the grey background. It is readable but it is hard especially when it gets to the bottom of the page. It is in a column so it looks professional and with a clear layout out. There is a little pug at the bottom right of the page which is a sketched arrow which is white to make it stand out and the text is boxed around it so it doesn’t over-lap.
The actual picture itself makes the band look slightly aggressive but as if they know what they’re doing. The clothing shows that their not afraid of holding back or about what people say. The shot is a medium close-up so the consumer can see only the top half of the band members.

NME MAGAZINE - ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS PAGE

The contents page is laid out into sections so that the reader can clearly see which photo and quote is together and from what page it is from. There are nine sections in total, all split up using thin black lines. The background of the page is white so that is looks clearer and easier to read. The title ‘INSIDE THIS WEEK’ is bold caps locks and is black with a slight blue shadow to make it look slightly 3D and therefore looks as though it is coming out of the page. It is positioned in the centre of the page at the top and is the biggest piece of text which symbolises that it is the most important. It also has the date underneath in italics and much smaller to state the issue date.

There are 7 pictures of bands/artists that are featured in the magazine shown on the contents page with a quote below which is to do with the article on the artist. Also on the picture is a page number which is seen on one of the bottom corners of the pictures. It too follows the titles bold, caps lock look with the black lettering an a slight blue shadow, however it is a different font, probably to keep the overall contents page looking interesting and different rather than having the same font used for all the text. The quotes about Glasvegas, PJ Harvey, and Mike Skinner are all in black caps lock but are not bold and are in a different font that has been used. Because it is thin it stands out more and is easier and clearer to read. Unlike the previously mentioned pieces of text it does not have a blue shadow. This means that it is obviously not as important so the editors did not want it to stand out as much. The quotes for Faris and Jessie J have a different font to the other bands/artists, the font used is in italics and looks more fancy, it is still in black but is not in caps lock; however it still stands out as it is a different style of font. Everything Everything again have a different style of font as their quote is in bold caps lock and it a lot thicker than the other mentioned fonts. This makes it stand out at the bottom of the page and contrast the rest of the fonts used.

The middle quote and picture are the largest on the page which makes them seem like the most important article. There is no quote, only the title ‘Shockwaves NME Awards 2011 – nominations revealed’ this title is in another different font which is more curled and fancy looking than the others used. The text is in black which again contrasts with the white background so it stands out and is clearer to read, it again has a slight blue shadow that again emphasis’s the articles importance in the magazine. The middle picture also has the NME shockwaves Awards logo in the bottom right hand corner which makes it seem more official. The red logo contrast with the dark colours in the picture so it stands out more. All of the texts for all the articles underneath the quotes are all in the same font. It is a thick black font which is in caps lock but smaller than all of the other text previously mentioned on the page. It gives additional information on the article to attract the reader to read it. The thin section towards the bottom of the contents page to the left shows the remanding magazine pages and their page numbers. The title ‘Plus’ makes it seem as though they are bonus pages to featured ones. The title again has a fancy font and is black and bold to make it stand out. It is also in caps lock to stay in keeping with the layout of the rest of the page.

In the section located in the bottom left hand corner is a turquoise box that is advertising subscription to NME magazine and gives details to the offer which is 35% off. It also gives contact details and pictures of four previous NME covers. It is in the same font as the main title of the page but is in white instead of black and has not shadow this is to make it stand out from the turquoise pugs colour to make it easier to read.

The overall layout of the contents page of NME magazine is the same every time apart from the information and the pictures on it. The clear 9 sections layout makes it familiar and easy to read, especially for consumers who normally buy NME. The white background and black font makes it seem formal and manageable to read and process. A contents page should advertise and inform the whereabouts of the certain articles in the magazine in a clear fashion for the consumer.


KERRANG MAGAZINE - ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS PAGE:

The Kerrang contents page has a specific colour scheme of Black, white, red and yellow. These colours have connotations of rock and rebellion especially black, white and red. These colours are traditionally seen on front covers of Indie, Rock, Alternative, Metal music magazine covers and stand out and contrast each other. The interesting colour used on the contents page of Kerrang magazine is yellow. Yellow normally implies happiness, brightness and joy which is not the style that Kerrang tends to go for due to the artists and bands they feature. However in this context the yellow fits in well with the red, black and whites. It makes the main pieces of information stand out even more and adds a touch of colour to the contents page to make it more interesting to look at for the reader. The background is white which makes it contrast the others colours and makes the text stand out.

There are 6 pictures used in total on the contents page. The main one is located at the top of the page and takes up almost half of the page. This again adds to the interest of the oage as the photo itself is quite interesting as it is not of just the artists singing but of a moment when they walked into the crowd so the reader can also see the audience. This in a way makes the magazine more friendly and inviting and makes the reader feel a part of the world of music.

The title ‘contents’ is in a bold font that is in yellow, contrasting with the black background to make it easily readable. It looks almost quite scruffy and grungy which again fits in with the image of the magazine. Directly beneath is the magazines issue number and issue date in a smaller font and in white rather than in yellow. It is also in caps lock, again to make it seem bold and ‘in your face’. There is a title for the artist in the picture which is on a white rectangular pug box so that the text stands out. The text again has the grungy effect just as the ‘Contents’ title had except that this one is in black rather than yellow. There is a page number for is which is white and bold and has a red circle and black star behind it to make it stand out from the white background and also highlight it so that it makes the reader want to look for that page number.

The magazine name is located in the middle of the page almost; it is not only the name of the magazine but also its logo which is unique to the magazine. It is white and stands out from the black strip it is on. Next to this logo is the title ‘This week’ which is in the exact same format as the title ‘Contents’ at the top of the page. It stands out again like the logo on the black strip and is one of the largest pieces of writing on the page.

On the far right is a section that the editor of the magazine has written. There is a picture of them at the top of the section, followed by a column on her note for the week’s edition. The ‘A YEAR’ that begins the column makes it look interesting and attracts the consumer to read it as is in caps lock, bold and larger than the rest of the writing that continues. The black makes it look sophisticated and formal. There is then the signature of the editor which makes the paragraph look formal and professional as if it were an important document but the fact that it is only the editors first name makes it personal and less formal than having the full name.

The actual section of the page which gives the page numbers and titles of the articles is smaller than the picture above which shows that Kerrang is more focused on the importance of the artist rather than the information. There are eight main titles which again the previously mentioned ‘Contents’ and ‘This Week’ title with yellow writing e.t.c. and also black rectangular boxed pug backgrounds to make them stand out. The page numbers are in a thick small sized font and are in red to make them stand out from the text beside them. The title of each page is black, thick and bold in caps lock to make it stand out to the reader. The text beneath it gives extra information about the article but is in a smaller font, still black but not caps locked or bold, this shows that it is not as important as the title of the article. There is a pug next to Muse and Limp Bizkit and on it in white caps lock writing is ‘cover story’ which shows the consumer where the main featured artists sections are in the magazine. At the bottom of the page in the middle is a picture of Behemoth with the title ‘posters’ running across him and then below stating the artists that are printed on posters for this week’s edition. The title is in black with a brown rectangular pug box behind it to make it stand out from the artist.

The overall contents page layout for Kerrang magazine is much more packed and grungy looking compared to NME and Q for example. However both have white backgrounds and mainly black lettering and section off information using thin black lines. Kerrang has a note from the editor on the contents page unlike NME and Q which gives the touch of personality.

Q MAGAZINE - ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS PAGE:

The general layout of Q magazine is always neat and formal looking. Apart from adverts and the front cover, the contents page is the first page the consumer will see in the magazine. It is therefore imperative that the contents page makes a good impression on the consumer. The background is white which is a neutral colour which will make bolder colours stand out and makes the page look more interesting and easier to read. The main colours used for text purposes are red and black. Against the white background both these colours stand out. Usually red, black and white are grouped together to display a rebellious and rockfish image, however here, the way in which the text and images are laid out makes it look more adult and formal rather than youthful and fussy. The red rectangular pug running along the top of the 2 pages highlights the information in it and makes it stand out as the most important info needed on the page. The Q is white so it stands out from the red backing and is in a large font. It also acts as a logo for the magazine. The text ‘Contents’ is in the same font as the ‘Q’ but looks slightly different as it is smaller and is in black, however it still stands out from the rest of the page due to the fact that it is larger than most of the rest of text on the page. Towards the right of the page it shows the issue number which is in white again standing out from the red backing. The font type also matches the ‘Q’ font and therefore all matches all looks clear and professional rather than having different font types. The picture in the top right hand side of the page is of the front cover and is on a slight angle with a thin shadow around it to make it look as if it’s standing out a bit from the page and look more interesting.

The text containing the actual info on the contents is in 2 columns and is split up by red lines which are quite thick and break up the text so that it is easier for the consumer to decipherer between the different pages. The red line stands out from the white background and it’s bold and a bright colour, which makes it the perfect colour to break up text. All of the text in the columns is in black which shows that it is not important enough to be in red as red would be used to make it stand out, where as the use of black makes it subtle and informative for the reader. The title of the article and the page number are both in the same font type as the ‘Q’ but are in bold so they stand out and are easier to read and also catches the eye of the consumer. The text below it which gives a little more info on the article is again in black but is smaller and not bold.

There are 8 pictures used in total on the page, all advertising the leading articles. The larger is of Liam Gallagher and shows that he is the featured artist for this issue of Q magazine. The page number is in white in the bottom left corner of the page

, which means that it stands out. It again matches the rest of the font type used on the contents page. It stands out as it is against a dark part of the picture of Liam. The other pictures are on the right hand side of the contents page and are smaller which obviously means that their related articles are not as important. The page numbers are in white with a black pug behind them to make them stand out from the picture. There are 2 pictures of articles in the magazine, which again is openly advertising the articles to the consumer. This means that the reader can see the articles and perhaps be drawn into reading them from seeing a small print of them.

The overall layout presents itself to be targeted at an older audience to that of other magazines such as Kerrang and perhaps even NME. It appears classy, yet at the same time up to date and in keeping with the latest new in the music industry. The pictures are different and have a certain style to them. The house style of the magazine is clearly shown in its contents page through the use of the same fonts, same colours and the overall way in which it is presented on the page using pugs and colour to divide up the information.

Mrs D

There is some impressive analysis here - in particular your analysis of colour which is linked to genre of music and your analysis of language linked to audience. To improve, use your shot terminology when looking at images and link analysis to the purpose of a front cover. The middle analysis could do with some more analysis as it is a little descriptive at times. More scope for layout too.