Analysing a third rock magazine

This time instead of a Kerrang magazine I decided to look at Rock sound, I think it is a good idea that I chose a different institution because different companies do different things and I think it good to get different perspectives.

The only two colours used are white and green and I think that it works really well because it stands out against a relatively dark background. It also creates in my opinion a spooky feeling to the magazine and I think this is because of the band they have on the front cover, My Chemical Romance, who are punk rock band but are often associated as being a "emo" band.

The font hasn't got any style it is just plain but I think it is still affective because it stands out and even though that is down to the colours the font is still nice to look at and I think if a customer saw it they would think it looks nice and normally when it comes to me I buy a magazine because it looks nice as well as the content..

There is not much going on for the front cover it just has a picture of the band members to My Chemical Romance, but this is still effective as it once again stands out and if this is in a shop you will notice it. There is a lot of content in this magazine we know this because it has some of the stories are on the front cover. They stand out because they are written in either white or green which is sticking to the house style and it once again makes the magazine good to look at.

The strapline is "songs for the death" this links back to My chemical Romance being an "emo" band as it sets a very spooky and morbid tone to the magazine. I personally do not think that the strapline is very good in the position that they have placed it as I think a strapline needs to stand out and be noticed and if it is written in small and not in the centre of the page it doesn't do this.

Also this magazine has not got a slogan, I think for a music magazine a slogan is essential because in my mind a music magazine is meant to be casual and a slogan does this as it creates a casual and laid-back atmosphere.

I think that using My Chemical Romance as the feature article is a good idea because the idea of having something as a feature articles is because you think it will be popular and sell magazines, and in the rock universe My Chemical Romance are huge so they are guaranteed to sell magazines.

The picture of My Chemical Romance is called a "gaze" this is because the band members are staring directly at you from the magazine, this is welcoming and creates a bond between the magazine and the audience.

This magazine is fit for purpose because it is visually good and it stands out. The ideas I am going to take from this and put into my magazine are: only using two colours, have a simple font and not have to much going on for my front cover.

Analysing another rock magazine

This is another Kerrang magazine the reason I am analysing another one is because I have decided that my magazine will be about rock music and I think it would be a good idea to look at a few of their magazines rather than just one so I can develop new ideas.

On this front cover there is not much going on, the main feature is of Billy Joe Armstrong the singer from Green day, I think Kerrang do this because Green day are a big band with a huge following so if fans see the singer of Green day on the front cover of a magazine they are more likely to buy it. It isn't just die hard Green day fans that will buy this magazine as well just normal fans of music and fans of rock music will buy this magazine as well because the majority of rock fans would have heard something from Green day.

There are a few side stories that will get the readers attention because they stand out and they use words like "WIN" or "PLUS" and these words entice the reader because they feel like they can win something and they also feel like they are getting more for their money because the word "PLUS" is used for more so it makes the reader feel like Kerrang are giving them as much content as possible.

The four colours used are green, yellow, black and white these are good colours because they all complement each other and stand out. What makes it stand out is the fact that all four colours are used proportionately. The style of the font is pretty basic and I think that also makes it stand out because of the colour used on the the font and the reason that these pretty plain light colours(with the exception of black) stand out is because the background is quite plain and colourless and I think that this is quite clever by Kerrang because everything on the front cover complements eachother.

Questionaire

Age

Gender

Occupation

Do you read music magazines?

If yes which one?

What is the most you will pay for a music magazine?

What is your favourite part of a magazine?

What is your favourite music genre?

Would you be interested in a music magazine focused solely on live music events?

If yes than what would you like about it?

The front cover I analysed

Analysing a kerrang front cover

Analysing a rock magazine

Kerrang is one of the mainstream Rock magazines its target audience is probably for a more mature audience as the language used is sometimes quite strong but I think if you have an interest in music you will enjoy reading it.

There is a lot happening on the front cover, there is a lot of side stories on the side of the page which are all easy to see and to read as the colours used all compliment each other. There is also one main story which also very clear to see. 

The main story that they are trying to promote has a quote which will hook the reader and make them want to read what is inside. They communicate with the target audience by having the most popular band that they are featuring.(Thirty seconds to mars) By featuring a popular band it is more likely to grab the reader's attention because if it is a popular band in that genre and people like that group they will be more likely to buy the magazine.

The poses  are  similar  in some ways as they are all looking  at the  camera.However  they are different as some are looking serious and others aren't  as serious.

The typography used  on this front  cover  is  similar  as most of  the  text  is  in the  same  font. This  font  stands  out  as it’s all in capitals  which allows  the writing  to stand  out  against the  background.This magazine  uses  to different  colours  to go with this  type of  font  as  these  two colours  make  the  writing  stand out  on the page.The  red and  the  white really stand out against  the black background.They use  black for the colour  of  the  font raley as most of  the  background is  black or they use  red  on the  white  as  it  stands out more.

The colours used are black, red and white this is good because all of the colours compliment each other, also the red and black are bold colours and stand out this is important because if this magazine is on a shelf it will stand out and people will notice it. I think the colour white is being used just to make some writing a little bit more clear and understandable.

The type  of  shot  used  in these  images  especially  the  main image  is  mid  shot  and  there  is  one  close  up on one  of  the  smaller images.The  main image  is  position and  framed so it's  in the centre of  the  front cover.This allows for  images and  text  to be placed  over and  around  the  main image  without  covering  the  face  of  the  model. The photography is  consistent as  the  type  of  shots  being  used  are  used  throughout and  the images  are  all  framed  the  same I think they do this because it makes the pictures easier to see and the audience can see everything.

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New magazine!

My next magazine will be a music magazine. I will be using my own original images for this, my music magazine will be a rock one as that is my favourite genre and the one I know most about.

To do list:

Analyse other music magazines 6th December deadline.

Create a questionnaire to see what people would like in a rock magazine 6th December deadline.

Decide what images I am going to use 10th December deadline

Make my magazine front cover 17 December deadline

Make my contents page 17 December deadline

Make my double page spread 17 December deadline

Contents page

This is my contents page I think it is quite good because it is clear and concise and it stands out. If It Washington colour it would have the same house style as my front cover which is purple and green, these colours are good as they are quite bold and extravagant and in my mind that is what grabs young people attention. I believe that my magazine contents page shows that my magazine covers a wide range of interesting topics that any potential post 16 student will be interested in. I also believe the layout to be unique and good to look at, I think having the title on the side is good because it is unique and I think it will look nice because I think that the colours I chose for my title (which you can see on the front cover) look nice and I think it improves the layout of the page. To improve I would try to think of more content for my magazine so then it would look like I have more in my magazine and I think that would attract customers because they want a lot of content if hey have to pay for something and as my magazine is very reasonable priced it would make it good value for money as well. But apart from that I am happy with my contents page.

My finished front cover

This is my finished front cover and I think as a 6th form magazine I think it is quite good and fit for its purpose. My house style is green and purple I think that these colours are a good choice as they stand out and they are both quite bold colours, I was going to use the ryde academy white and blue but I felt that it would not stand out because of the pictures I've chosen. For my masthead I use the word "exclucive" which would entice the reader as readers like to get something that they can't get anywhere else so the reader might feel that they are valued because we would be giving them something that they can't get anywhere else. Normally on a magazine there is always something in the top right corner and this is what a potential customer sees first, so if it is something interesting or something were a customer could win something they will definitely be interested in the magazine. For my magazine I couldn't think of anything relevant that would go with my magazine so instead I put the price which is 75p, I think this is important because nowadays if you want to buy a magazine the majority of the time your going to end up paying more than £2:50 so if a customer sees that it is 75p they are going to think that it is good value and be interested. Also as my target audience is 6th form students or people who would be interested in going to 6th form I have got to keep my price low because as students they are not going to have much money on them so the money they do have they won't want to waste and when they see that my magazine is 75p and that it is filled with quality content they won't mind paying for it because it's great value.

To improve my magazine I would have made the font of my price smaller because it is the same size as my title and this could mislead customers into thinking my magazine is called the "6th sense 75p" which is not a very attractive of appealing title. Also for my other two side pictures I feel that I could have write something more enticing and maybe use alliteration as that would draw the reader in and it would be a more exciting front cover.

In conclusion I feel that my front cover is good and has more positives than negatives if I was to do I it again I would make a few changes but the layout and the pictures will be the same just some of the wording would be different but apart from that I would say that my front cover is good and stands out.

Flat plan for my front cover

This is my flat plan and although it has a lot of white space I have written down what I want to go where. In the top right of the page I have got a competition I put that there because the first thing that a reader sees is the top right of the page and if a reader sees something where they can win prizes they automatically become interested because they can get something out of it.

In the big blank space in the centre will be a picture of the hay lands 6th form building and post 16 students standing in front of it, I think that is a good idea because if it is first issue of a 6th form magazine people are going to want to see the 6th form facility and the people who go. There will also be a headline above the picture.

In the bottom to sections there will be two separate stories so the reader will hopefully find one that they are interested in, I think this is a good idea because if we feature more than more story people will be more interested because instead of getting one good good story there getting to.

Questionaire

How often do you buy magazines a week?


What genre of magazine are you most interested in?


Where do you normally read magazines?


Where do you buy your magazines from?


Do you ever read music magazines?


What is your favourite music genre?


How much would you spend on a magazine?


What draws you to a magazine?


What sort of content would you want from a magazine that you purchase?

Analysing a 6th form magazine

This is an example of a 6th form magazine that I found on Google. There is nothing on the front cover that would grab the readers attention and I think making the writing in red was a bad choice as it is quite a struggle to read it. also some of the writing on the bottom is white compared to the earlier mentioned red writing so it shows that he hasn't got a house style or if he/she did they just didn't stick to it.

There is nothing on the front cover that makes you want to read it as a potential customer I would not to buy it as it looks like no effort has gone into it. Also this would not stand out to a customer because if this was on a shelf with all of the other magazines it will never get noticed because it is to plain and boring, there is nothing drawing the customer to it.


The picture on the front cover also is not very good as the people look like they are posing and it is just boring, there is no way this would convince anyone to come to 6th form as it just looks like a misinterpretation of what 6th form actually is. Finally on the bottom it says news, reviews and celeb and it just doesn't seem relevant to 6th form, normally if someone is buying a 6th form magazine they would want information on 6th form not unrelated information.

These are some of the pictures I might use for my 6th form magazine, they show people working which is the impression im trying to create.

Skills audit

Strengths

Creativity
taking photos
essays
Ideas

Weaknesses 

Design
Photoshop
most computer programs
Magazine structure

Maslows pyramid of needs

Marlow's hierarchy of needs show 5 levels of psychological needs that you need to be happy in the workspace. The lower needs must be satisfied before the higher ones can. Motivation theory which suggests five interdependent levels of basic human needs which must be satisfied in a strict sequence starting with the lowest level. Psychological needs for survival are the most fundamental and pressing needs. They are followed by social needs and self esteem needs.  

Introduction

This is an introduction for my AS media course. During the course of the year I will be producing two magazines one which is a sixth form magazine and another which is a music magazine. I will be using original images.