Initial Idea.

My initial indea is to create a front cover, contents page and a 2 page cover spread for a new music magazine.. it will be centered around the genre we call today...Indie Rock. I will keep to the typical conventions and codes of this magazine, which is the colour scheme they use (Red, Black, White and Yellow) as well as the font and style of images. The main purpose of the magazine is to promote and interview a new artist.

Analysis of 2 contents pages (Layout and Images)

          Contents Pages:

         Layout and Images

NME:

On this contents page they only use one image, which is centred around the front cover image. The image is big and stands out, helping the reader identify the main focus points of the magazine. They use another image, which is at the bottom of the page, which is two magazines, helping with an offer. The layout of this contents page is compact, showing there is lot going off in this magazine, they seperate them by borders and shapes, with some in different colours. The main-heading which stretches across the main image is written in bigger font and more bolder then the other text, the page number is in a different colour, informing the reader this is the page they need to go to first. The main contents which is placed on the right hand side, as been split into certain topics, which the articles are best placed in. The page numbers are in red too. Certain topics have an arrow next to them, urging the reader the read these too.  The promotion and special offers are in yellow, they have used this colour becase it stands out and catches the readers attention immediatley. A good promotion tatic by the publishers as its selling the magazine and promoting an annual subscription.

Q: 

This magazine contents page is different to NME because its less compact, and a lot more simple. I say this because not much is going off, the colours are mostly the same. The only items which stand out on the page are the headings on the contents at the side. The publisher is clever as they have only put the articles which have the most interest/promotion to the selling of the magazine itself. They have used an interesting colour, Gold, at the bottom of the contents page to show a special interview or article which is in the magazine. I say this as been used to show its importance to the reader, a one off special, and of very important standard. Like NME they have only used one image which is the main focus point, same as the front cover. The page numbers are in red, so they stand out and catches the readers attention. They have kept it simple, so it engages the reader, and also its a lot clearer to read.

Both magazine contents pages uses the colour red, a bright and dominating colour which catches any readers attention. It makes the reader think that the articles are important and a must-read.

For when i create my magazine i will keep to the design used in Q, i like this design because its simple and not over the top. The reader understands what the contents includes and its easily understandable. I also like it because its can be achieved and the design looks easy to grasp.

Analysis of 2 different articles (Language and Layout)

 

     NME



        Q

 

Langauge and Layout of both magazines ( NME and Q)

NME:

When looking at this page straight away the image catches your attention, as it covers most of the page and seperates the interview to either side of the page, this immediatley informs the reader that this page will be centred around what the image is showing. This page consists of the colours red, black, yellow and white, keeping to the intended colour scheme from the front cover. The main information and topics of this page are high-lighted in a bold and strong colour (Red), this too catches the readers attention because they are showing which bits the reader should read first. The main-heading is bold and goes across the top of the page, they are using a quote from the article itselfs (showing what the interview is about). The language is engaging and friendly to the reader, we understand the purpose of the article. They keep it simple and interesting, so not the bore the reader. Also they have used a 'Puff' at the bottom of the page, this makes the article more interesting, as you can 'Win' an item from a competition. You would usually see these on the front cover of a magazine, but i think its good to have one in a magazine, engaging the reader even more.


Q:
The layout of the article is different to NME because the image is much bigger and more of a main focus, for this article. When i first looked at this page, the image caught my attention straight away. The main heading goes across the bottom of the image, surrounded by the colour Red, which again, catches the readers attention, as Red is a dominating colour. Also, a quote (which as been picked out the article) is in red, also again catching the readers attention, before they start to read the article. I would say they have used the colour Red ( like NME) to keep to its front cover colour scheme, as the mast-head is usually Red. The laguage again is simple and engages the reader. The main headings and high-lighted points are short, making the reader want to read this article, a clever technique in wanting to promote a certain item or Band, or even the buy the magazines.

When creating my music magazine i will keep to the intended colour scheme of red, black, white and yellow and the type of fonts it uses, such as Sans Serif.

Indie Music magazine: Codes and Conventions.

Indie music magazine:

 An example of a Indie Music Magazine is NME. The typical conventions are that the image is usually placed on the right while the mast-head is placed on the left. You can also clearly tell that the image is blending over to the other side, so its starting to cover the mast head, so it shows that the main image is the main selling point of the magazine. Another convention of the image (and one that you always expect to have) a famous singer/Artist on the front. For example: Lily Allen.

Another convention of this Indie Magazine (NME) is that most of the (main and sub) headings use the colour white, and the mast-head is usually red. I say that the mast-head is red because it dominates the front cover of the magazine, striking out to the audience the name of the company.

The Plugs and Puffs are usally place around the sides of the magazine, and usually coloured in with bright colours (E.G Yellow, Red or White). This engages the readers attention because the colours will make them notice that there is more articles inside which are interesting. A clever promotion tatic, because they are urging the reader to buy it.

On both magazines the price is wrote in small font, showing that the publisher doesn't want the reader to focus on the price until they have look at the front cover, again very clever in promoting the magazine.

I would say also that another code/convention of these pratically Indie magazines is that they keep to basic colour scheme of 4 (Black, white, yellow and red). This shows that there not planning in going over the top on their magazine cover, keeping it basic, but using colours which are striking and dominating.

Analysis of a Music Mag Cover.

Mast Head- 'Smash Hits'. Uses a bold and striking colour, which easily makes it stand out and catches the readers atention. Simple font and easy to read.

Main-Headings: Again, same as the mast-head, easy to read and you can clearly tell what the main topics of the magazines are. Strong and bold colour.

Main Image : The main image also stands out because the image is placed on a natural background, bringing more attention to the reader.

Plugs: 'Six new song words'. This plug helps with promotion because the reader wants to find out this information, because its only basic. This is a clever technique because it urges readers to buy it.

Bar Code: The bar-code and price is printed small because the publishers doesn't want the reader to focus on th price first, they want the reader to focus on the main-headings of the magazine.

Preliminary Task: Magazine (Original Plans)

The pictures on this blog was my original, intended plan for my magazine front cover and contents page, as you can see i did change my layout, but some of the things i wanted stayed the same, like the mast head and the colour code i used.

News.

Hopefully by Friday the link for my groups preliminary task video should be up, and soon i will be uploading pics of my draft (for my preliminary task for my magazine front cover and contents page) and show you what original ideas i came up with.