Contents Page Research

I now need to analyze a contents page to explore the conventions of one so I can apply this to my own task.

Here is my analysation of a Q magazine contents page

Drafts of the Front Cover

I have now nearly finished my front cover.

Whilst working with the magazine, I discovered that I didn't really like the original font I was going to use- it looked a bit odd with the picture and image of the front cover, and didn't quite fit the genre of my music magazine.

Therefore, I re-experimented with fonts.

Firstly, I tried IMPACT, and various shadows/outlines. This is what I ended up with;

However, I thought that this looked a bit plain.

Therefore, I decided to type each word out on a different cipher and make them disjointed, portraying the jagged style of the music magazine

This is what I produced;

However, I felt that this didn't really fit the conventions of my music magazine.

Whilst looking at music magazine title typefaces, I decided that I liked KERRANG's, with the suggestion that the title had been "beat by the music", so searched for a typeface like it.

Still inrested in creating a "jagged" effect for my magazine, I found and liked "28 days later", and with various shadows and utilization of each character on a seperate cipher, I decided that this would be an appropriate font to use. As each character was seperate, this enabled me to rotate the "R", so it could resemble the action of being "struck" by music. This again, enables a "jagged" and dangerous feel, promoting the effect of music explored in the magazine.

This is my final title;

I have now nearly completed the front cover.

I have produced a mock-up of what I want my front cover to look like.

I have decided to have the title and majority of cover lines in red. This is a warm colour, looking inviting and provides a contrast to Sophie's green dress.

Obviously I will have more cover lines and I will use a better copy of the photo in the actual front cover.

This is my work so far:

I do like the font, and feel it stands out. However, I feel as if I could edit it more to show better use of photoshop and make the front page look a little different. I have now airbrushed and edited the photo so it looks more appropriate for a music magazine front cover.

This is the final main photo I will use for my front cover.

I have edited:

• Sophie's skin, it is less patchy. I used the retouching tool to do this.


• Her hair, before she had a few stray hairs which I have cut out using the background eraser tool.


• I used the clone stamp to cut in her dress to give her a better shape: before, there was a bit of loose material which looked a bit odd.


• I have adjusted the lighting and contrast of the picture in photoshop.

I may also flip the photo over in photoshop, meaning that I can move the picture to the left and Sophie's head will be tilted towards the cover lines. This means that the "middle ground" of the magazine will consist of Sophie's head and the cover lines, which will be where the readers eyes are directed to first.

Where I took the photos

I have taken my media photos in two different destinations, to provide different oppurtunities for lighting and scenery.

I took one set of photos in an apartment in Mexico. I originally meant to take some outside to make use of the sunshine, promoting how my artist is from these areas, but I did not like the way these photos turned out. I did like some of the photos which I took inside the apartment, however. This is the room which I took the photos in;

I chose to take photos in this room as it had cream walls, which is a versatile background which enables the model to stand out from the background. It also has large windows, letting alot of light in, giving the pictures good lighting.




I took a second lot of photos in the loft conversion of a house in England. The skylight window means alot of light is let in and like the Mexican appartment, the room has cream walls. The loft is roomy and a pleasant environment to work in. Therefore, when I decided I had to take some more photos, I made use of this room to take them.

The skylight lets alot of light in, which is reflected by the cream walls. This creates good lighting and the spacious room is easy to work in.

Photos

I have taken lots of photos, some of which I feel fit to use in my music magazine.

I really like this picture, I like Sophie's connection through the audience through her upward gaze and the use of the flower. However, I do not think the flower is clear enough and I regret not taking a photograph without the sombrero, as although it connotates her Hispanic style of music, I feel that she could look more mainstream and like an artist if she was not wearing it. Nonetheless, it is a potential front cover photo.

This photo is similar to the last one, but Sophie is sitting casually in a chair. I like this photo and am considering using it for the contents page. However, it is too similar to the other photo to use one for the contents page and one for the front cover. I will probably use this photo for the contents page and take another photo for the front cover.

I took this picture in a loft conversion, utilizing the cream wall to make Sophie stand out against the background, and not having a busy background. I really like this picture, especially Sophie's interaction with the audience through her unusual stare. This is definately a potential cover picture.

Although I like this picture, it has a "busier" background due to the cupboard and skylight window in the background. However , when I tried taking it from a different angle to avoid the busy background, the lighting was not as good. On the whole, I think I prefer the above image anyway in terms of Sophie's facial expression and posture.

This is a screenshot of just some of the photos I took- I took over 300 overall! Of course I could not upload all of them, so I had to do a major sort through of my photo collection.

Plans of Front Cover and Contents Page

I have drawn plans of my front page and contents.


Front Cover




Draft One of my Front Cover:





I first drew my front cover out like this, but it looked too crowded. So I decided to move the "Latino Loca" cover line and get rid of the text box which I had planned to surround some text. I also planned to move the headline left and shrink it a bit as I could not fit the whole title in!



Draft Two of my Front Cover:





I edited the front cover, but decided it still looked a bit crowded. Therefore, I decided to move the picture to the right and the cover lines to the left; this meant that I could have the cover lines down the left hand side and there could be less of them, meaning it would be less crowded. I could also enlarge the picture, which would reach out to the reader more.

Final Draft of Front Cover:





This is the final draft of my front cover. I definatley prefer the picture being on the left, and now have a clear idea how my photos and cover lines are going to fit together.



Contents Page

I found this alot easier to plan than the front cover, and was satisfied with my first draft.



I first wanted to have the picture on the left hand side, however, I altered this with the change of my front cover as it looked too simalar. I decided to put a picture in a circle in the middle so I can use text wrapping for each section of the contents. I decided to put a picture of my headphones on the right of the picture as it connotates music further.

I now feel much more confident about producing my front cover and contents page.

Fonts for my Front Cover

Before deciding on my font, I am going to look at fonts already used on music magazine so I can get an idea of what is used and this will aid me to think of a unique and original font that also reaches out to the reader.

The red colour of the font is striking, whereas the title font is classic and effortless. It flows very easily from one letter to another, portraying the flow of music. The classic style conveys how music can be listened to by all ages, and is timeless. This is especially applicable to the magazine's genre as it focuses on popular chart songs.

The KERRANG header is black, which bears a stark contrast to the white background. It is a basic font, conveying how music can be simple, and has a "shattered" effect. This illustrates how the music could have "shattered" the title, symbolising the power of music. The genre of music exoplored in Kerrang is rock, indie and alternative, which are the types of music which are said to "shatter windows" and hence, the text could be shattered easily.

Q magazine is shortened from "Q the music". The title is short and hence, needs to use colours which stands out. This is achieved through the white text and red background. It would look silly and over the top if the only letter of the title had fancy effects, so I think that they have done a good job with keeping the font classic and tidy.

NME stands for "New Musical Express". It is outlined by white and black, emphasizing how the title needs to stand out. The converse range of colours used contrast with one another, slightly clashing but in a good way, as if it is conveying the power and clash of music. The 3D font reaches out to the reader, as if it can be touched. This symbolizes the proximity of music to the reader.

Here are some fonts that I have tested on Indesign and Photoshop.

Out of these eight fonts, I have decided that I like the last one the best as it is a little bit different to the other ones. It reminds me of a stamp, which will look like it has been through a process of construction. This will engage the reader more, as it will look like someone has physically stamped the title on each magazine, conveying the hard work which has gone into the magazine. I am also going to add an effect to the font, as it will show good use of Photoshop and will add more emphasis to the title "STRUCK", which will add to the music connotations.

The personal effect which I am using with the stamp format has been used with Kerrang;

A picture of Billie Joe Armstrong from Greenday has been "saftey-pinned" to the magazine front cover. This looks personal to the reader, as if it has been made just for them.

Results of Survey

I have asked 10 friends my survey asking which music and music magazines they prefer. This has helped me to determine the genre I want to use.

I can conclude that the most popular genre was R&B with 8 votes, closely followed by indie with 7 votes. My magazine will hence spread over these two genres, featuring both R&B and indie artists. Rolling Stone and NME were the most popular magazines which people would buy, so I am going to closely follow and analyze these two magazine to obtain inspiration for my magazine. I am going to make my magazine a monthly magazine, as the majority of people said that they would not buy every issue weekly magazine and are more likely to buy a monthly magazine. This will cause my price to rise as there will be more content in the magazine. However, it also means that people would be more inclined to buy every issue so it could attract fans of the magazine. The majority of voters said that they are impartial to the gender of the magazine photo, however more opted for a girl on the front cover than a boy. I will use a girl for my front cover of my music magazine.