Research part 5-Q

Front cover

 

• I like the effect at the top of the ripped page, this gives the impression the articles are important as they have ripped the front cover. It also attracts peoples attention as they will initially think it is ripped. They will then investigate and see the articles that are inside
• The large name of the magazine, the logo of Q is very easily recognized, this will make it stand out from competitors and will make sure that when people try to think of music magazines Q will be the first one they think of
• The photo is edited well. The shot has been taken from 3 separate photos, it allows Q to put the lead singer of  band in the foreground to make it clear to people who may not be familiar with Muse, while not belittling the faces in the background. If you took that as one shot the faces at the back would look very small

Contents page

• There is a large picture of Adele that dominates the contents page. This advertises the main article well as the picture of Adele is the only thing you notice on the contents page 
• The colour red is used, this is continued from the front cover, this shows a consistent house style between the cover   

Double page spread

• The house style is continued from the front cover as the large letter is used, the letter completely overpowers the rest of the article. This is very good for brand identity
• The large picture, is positioned on the left, this shows the text is important as the picture is on the left  

Research part 4- Clash

Front cover

• The front cover uses a vibrant colour scheme as the main colour, yellow. This makes the cover stand out from the rest of the covers on the shelf. This is further reinforced by the yellow subtitle for James Blake. The cover makes the artist the main focus as that is what is going to attract fans to buy the magazine
• The title is unusually infront of the picture as many music magazines choose to cover the title with the main picture, this is giving the impression the brand Clash is the most important element on the page
• A close up is used, this means you can see more of the artists face and see clearly their facial expression. This allows a psychological connection to be built and may make the reader want to buy the magazine

Contents page

• The cover stories are marked on the contents page, this helps the audience to make a judgement on the stories they want to read. The main story is the only one marked with a red dot, this sets it aside from the rest of the stories and makes it stand out
• There is alot of pictures, this helps to reatin the interest of the readers and this means they stay on the page and may see another article they want to read
• There are a series of puns for articles, these leave the true nature of the article vague, this means the reader has to read on to see exactly what they are about

Double page

 

• The black and white photo is unusual, it makes the photo blend into the background and it makes the text stand out even more, it also makes the photo more memorable as these days you don't see many things print based in black and white
• There is a simple photo on the left hand side, this makes the article look more simple, this appeals to the audience as they don't like to look at complicated articles
• There is a blue box inserted into the article, this means the reader can gain information about Lana Del Rey and get to know who she is. This may then encourage them to read the article 
  
  

Research Part 3- Vibe

Front Cover

• There is a direct match between the photo and the colours used on the front cover, Kanye West is wearing grey and blue shirt and the colours are grey and blue. This gives the cover a good look as it shows that the articles have a direct relationship with the rest of the magazine
• Different colour subheadings are used to make articles inside stand out, the pink stands out against the grey to emphasise the articles that are inside

Contents Page

• The black and white colour is unusual, this means that it is easy to remember and it sticks in the mind of people
• The contents page leaves a sense of mystery as there is an arm round the shoulder of Kanye West, this will intrigue the audience and will make them want to read further on to see what it is all about
• There is a very clear focus on one (the main) article, this is because the picture takes up the whole of the contents page and the contents are in relatively small text to put further emphasis on the Kanye West article

Double page spread

• Once again there is one picture taking up the whole of the left hand side of the page, this makes the article more appealing to the eye
• There is coordination between the colours of the logo on the right hand side and the hat on the left hand side, this is another example of a consistent house style


Research part 2-Kerrang

Front Cover

• There is a cleverly edited photo, it gives the impression that Mark Hoppus is actually holding the sign even though he isn't. When someone looks on the shelf and they see it they will think that Mark Hoppus is personally endorsing the magazine. This will attract his fans to buy the magazine
• There is a simple colour scheme of red and yellow. This appeals to the reader as it is easier to read, this is because too many colours make the page look too busy. The yellow makes parts stand out as yellow is really bright and is a really distinctive colour
• Competitions are used to attract the reader, this is because people are always willing to get something for nothing, This may lead people to buy magazine for the chance to enter the competition

Contents page

• The colour of yellow is continued over to give a consistent house style
• A personal message from the editor is inputted. I think this is a good idea as it creates a personal connection between the reader and editor. This feel may attract people to buy the magazine in future
• There are picture of articles further on in the magazine in the contents page. This is good as it gives an overview of what the reader can expect and it can save the reader time. This will appeal to the reader as they don't want to be wasting time

Double page spread

• The colour scheme of red is continued from the front cover for the titles, this makes it obvious that they are all from the same publication
• A large majority of the page is taken up by photographs, this appeals to the audience as they would much rather deal with photoes than text. Although photos should never become more important than the text it is good to have a good number
  
  

Research Part 1-NME

For each piece of research I will briefly type up elements I think the page has done well and what I may like to incorporate into my own work.

Front cover

• A close up is used, I think the shot makes the cover stand out from others that use long or mid shots
• Bright colours used, it is important a magazine stands out from the rest on a newsagents shelf
• Photos other than the main image are used to advertise the articles inside. This gives the readers an idea of what they can expect inside. It is then hoped the articles will appeal to them and they purchase the magazine

Contents page

• Large red name of NME is repeated to create a consistent house style. This is important because if there is no house style the magazine will look unprofessional
• Articles grouped under subheadings i.e features, exclusives. This is better than just 1 to 75 as it breaks the list up and it allows the reader to search the contents page in a much easier and quicker way
• A large photo advertising the main article, this photo will draw the attention to itself. This is wanted as the main article is the one you most want to be read most 

Double page spread

• Important parts are highlighted in blue. This allows the reader to select parts they want to read while making sure they read the most important parts
• The whole of the left hand page is taken up by a photo. This allows the reader to see the band at home in an enviroment they are comfortable in. By only having the text on one page it gives the impression there is less of it and that is appealing to audeinces as they don't want to read large blocks of text
• A seperate feature with a different colour background is used. This is good because it allows for vital information to be summarised and it stops there being one page of block colour, which could make the page look uninteresting 

Photos for preliminary task

I took two photos to put on the cover of my preliminary task, at the time I wasn't completely sure of the final look of my cover so I took a couple of mid shots to give me a choice.

This shot is of two people posing at the end of the sixth form corridor, I tried to get both of them with a shot with the view all the way along down the sixth form corridor. I thought this would make the main models seem bigger as all the people and computers in the background would look small. Although I couldn't quite make this to work as I couldn't get as much of the sixth form corridor as I would have liked. This is probably one of the factors that led me not to choose this photo for the front cover. I would most probably have run this with the headline of Meet the Head Boy candidates.

The second photo I took was down in the sport corridor as I thought the article on the cover could be related to sport. I looked at the wall and I saw some blank space next to the high jump record . The idea for the photo then popped into my head. With this only being a preliminary task I didn't have the props to allow me to take a photo of someone in a sports kit as I do think it's a bit strange my model is wearing a suit. I would also have taken a few more of the same shot if this was the real thing as the quality of this photo is not great. I did think this was the better photo though as it was easier to fit the text round and it was staged better . 

Front cover-preliminary task

I have now completed the front cover for my school magazine for the preliminary task.

I feel that I've stuck to my own goal of making my front cover relevant to the main article of my magazine even though I won't actually be producing it. I really thought about my photo to give my cover the best chance of looking professional. I deliberately took the photo in the sport corridor as they are suitable surroundings for a photo celebrating sporting achievement, but I wanted to go one step further and I took a photo of my model standing up against a piece of wall art about the high jump. The 2.45m that can be seen in the background is the high jump world record. Although looking back at the photo it's not of the best quality and that's something I want to address in my real piece. On my front cover I chose to stick to the basic font of Arial Black. I think as it is a school magazine the purpose is to give out information and perhaps not as much thought is put into the appearance. I also feel that Arial Black makes it easier to read which will give the impression the magazine inside is easy to read. I chose to stick to black and white colours for the text on my cover, I thought it was best as if there are too many colours it would look too busy and the cover wouldn't be interesting for people to look at and read.

Contents page mock up-preliminary task

I have created this mock up of a contents page for my preliminary task. I remembered that the brief was a school magazine, this is one of the reasons why I chose pictures to feature so prominently. As this is most likely to be handed to students who may not want to spend their time reading about school I represented the main articles with pictures. This is in the hope they will look at the pictures and decide they will want to read the article. I only did this to the main articles as they are the main articles for a reason, you want them to be read. I also tried to tailor the articles to the scenario, 3 of my 4 main articles are about extra curricular activities. One of the purposes of a school magazine is to advertise the school and the extra curricular activities in the hope to inspire other pupils to get involved. This is why chose a range of articles to appeal to everyone there is performing arts, sport and a charitable cause. This has helped me to understand that it is important to select an audience but appeal to everyone within that audience type. I thought long and hard about the design of this contents page and i think this will be the design I use in my music magazine.

Preliminary task research

I had trouble finding a school magazine I could analyse as many of them are produced by students and were quite amateurish. Although as my preliminary task is a school newspaper for TDA I chose to analyse the school's own magazine.

Analysis 

• Coloured boxes help to promote the school and instill a sense of pride. As they tell of positive things going on around the school.
• The theme of pride is continued with the slogan near the top. It promotes the school and is aimed to impress any external readers
• The month and year makes it easy to tell issues apart and organise them if you have many
• The 6 coloured boxes help to create a consistent and appropriate house style as they are the college colours of the school. This is supported by the badge
•  The large word 'news' tells you straight away exactly what you're reading and helps you to make a judgement on whether you want to read it straight away
• The low angle establishing shot emphasises the enormity of the school and makes it seem more impressive this helps to attract people's attentions to the cover
• There is a link to the school's website to try and advertise it and get more people to visit it

Although...

• There is a lot of grey used on the header and footer and in the main picture itself, although there are blocks of colour the cover is quite dim and unattractive to look at
• The TDA logo doesn't fit on the page I can't see the effect it is trying to create so I think it should be shrunk so it all fits
• The photo is a general photo of the school, it doesn't link to any article inside the magazine which isn't what you'd expect to see. In my magazine I want my front cover to be relevant to the main article inside 

Candidate Information

Name: Benjamin Jones

Candidate Number: 2163

Centre Name: Thomas Deacon Academy

Centre Number: 22321

Foundation Portfolio Brief: To construct the front page, contents page and a double page spread of a new music magazine