Rejecting Front Cover Photos

These are the pictures I rejected to use on my front cover, mainly because I needed a mid-shot for the main cover, which included the models body, from waist and upwards.

Contents Font Ideas

These are the fonts I considered using on my contents page, however I chose one and I chose the last one.

Contents Page

This is the background I have chosen for my contents page

After decided the background, I added the masthead

Contents Page

Working Progress

I started my work off by researching. I designed a questionnaire to gather information from the public, my questionnaire consisted of 12 questions and was handed out to 20 people. We then used some of the data gained to make important decisions concerning the name, genre and design of the magazine. Before actually starting our magazine, we practised how to use adobe photoshop by playing around with it in order to make a practice front cover of a school magazine and contents page. Moreover, I experimented with the various types of fonts which linked in to the name 'neon', using a blue and red colour, after finding the right one I chose a background and main image after several difficulty including different opinions and clear images. After that I started my production process of my main front cover of the magazine.

Background Ideas

These were the background images I took for my front cover, however I was not fond of any of them therefore I did not use them and kept my background simple, black and white.

Analysing Contents Page

Analysis of Vibes contents page:


Here is an example of Vibe contents page, however this contents page is quite plain and simple, which is very common in most Vibe magazines. Most other magazines are not as simple and uninformative like this particular contents page.
The main image is 'Movado' who is not really known in the HipHop genre. His music attracts niche audience, therefore it is quite odd that he is the main image. However, in the main image Movado's pose/posture is very conventional to other artists on other Hip Hop magazines. He is wearing a chain, which symbolises wealthy. This piece of jewellery is quite common for any Hip Hop artist. Also, he is wearing other props like diamond braclets and watch which also suggests wealth and connects the artist to the Hip Hop genre. The gucci belt also indicates wealth. All these props make the artist seem as if he is a Hip Hop artist even though they may not know who he is as he is not that well known in the Hip Hop industry.
The artists eyes and pose makes him seem as though he is drugged which is unusual for Vibe to be using as they would not normally use a model like this. The artist in this magzine contents page is posing as if he is a "gangsta" where as the artist TI is posing as if he is a businessman, through his costume and props. Here we see a major contrast between the two artists who have different ambitions. Moreover, the background image used is of a 'ghetto' area which signifies the artist Movado as real as he is has not forgot where he came from even though he seems to be wealthy. This type of background has been used in many other Hip Hop magazines as it symbolises the artist in a powerful manner. Therefore it is good that Vibe has used this particular background. The use of black and white to present the background image creates deppressing and dull environment.
From the contents page we can see that this magazine is trying to attract Hip Hop fans and more specifically aspirers as the artist are wearing diamonds. Also the contents page shows the magazine is targetting a younger audience as it is very visual as oppose to textual which magazine editors assume the younger audiences prefer. The typography used to present the contents is bold and fresh which implies youth and strength, this also targets the younger audience. However, the colour used to show the word contents is black which creates a dull and dark vibe, this could possible mean that the magazine might be targetting a older audience as it is not brightly coloured so a older audience may be more attracted to this. It is also vital for magazines to attract other types of audiences as the magazine industry is a dieing industry, therefore they must try to increase sales by attracting a wider and large audience.
On the whole, I would say that this particular contents page is very basic and unsusal. It uses an artist, which is not very popular as a image and a ghetto background alongside dull and dark colours. Also the magazine is chiefly attracting a younger audince through its contents page as there is artist that younger audiences would like and the contents page is not very accurate which younger audiences may also like.

During lesson, we analysed a contents page of a magazine. First I brainstormed what features a contents page should have.

Front Cover

Before starting my actually front cover, I chose a picture out of all the pictures I took of my model. I started of by cutting the image of my model:

Then I pasted it into a new blank document:

After that I added a barcode at the bottom right corner:

After that, i added the masthead to my image, alongside the coverlines.

Sketch of front cover

Before starting my actually magazine i had to draw a sketch of how i would want my front cover to look like. Here is my front cover sketch:

Targets

You have included an example of work in progress but you must now aim to show more evidence of the actual construction of each page. In addition you must use the checklist to work on other planning and research items that need to be added to your bolg.

Audience Research

You have provided a clear analysis of your questionnaires and drawn upon some of this analysis to inform your production. Well done. You should now include your focus group findings.

Textual Analysis

Hina, your textual analysis demonstrates a sound understanding of the effects of the key presentational devices and the ways in which genre is conveyed. You also show a good understanding of how audiences are targeted. Well done.

NME & Q Comparison

Magazines NME and Q both use various presentational devices to target their audience. The magazine Q has a masthead which uses the colours red and white. The use of these specific colours makes the masthead stand out more and makes it eye-catching. At the bottom of the masthead, there is a puff which says "Britains biggest music magazine". This puff makes the magazine seem trustworthy as it has been claimed to be one of the best in britain. Also the use of white in the masthead makes the magazine look simple and plain, appealing to older and more mature audiences. In the same way NME also has red and white in the masthead but in lesser extent than Q. The use of colour red also helps the magazine standout from others and is very eye-catching, this is very important as all magazines are placed next to one another in the stores and this then leads to competition between them. Therefore it is extremely vital for a magazine to standout from others so consumers can purchase it. Additionally magazine Q uses a main image of more older celebrities and the age of the characters may make the magazine more appealing for older audiences. The main image is quite large compared to other images and texts, this draws more attention to it and suggests that the main article will be based on it, which is the most important aspect of a magazine.
The costumes/props of the celebrities in magazine Q are also more sophisticated and this may make the magazine even more appealing for older audiences. In addition, magazine NME's main image is of younger celebrity characters, therefore appealing more to younger audiences. The band members are wearing jean jackets and holding guitars, which are costumes and props which are generally associated to the Indie and rock genre. The main coverline of magazine Q is "The song writers", this suggests that the magazine is more likely to attract audiences who would take interest in getting to know more about song writers. This will attract older audiences as younger audiences may not be interested in reading about song writers. The main coverline is in gold and bold typography, making the magazine more stylish and eye-catching. The main coverline of magazine NME is "the view", this could possibly be the name of the band, again drawing attention to the actually image. The targeted audience for this magazine would possible be indie/rock fans, as this type of genre appeals to the younger generation. The other coverlines in magazine Q mention the names of artists like James Blunt. This attracts audiences that like pop music as these are well known names. The use

Focus Group Questions

These are questions for the focus group which help me find out what people would like to see in my music magazine.
1) Does the title 'Neon' appeal to you?
2) What colours do you think would suit a R&B music magazine?
3) What do you think the main article should consisit of?
4) What inspires you when reading a music magazine?
5) What is the most important feature of a music magazine?

Here are some examples of existing R&B music magazines:























I used these examples of existing music magazines as a template for my own magazine, as I analysed each one of them to help me construct my own.

Textual analysis of XXL

The hip hop magazine that I will be analysing is XXL. In terms of presentational devices the magazine consists of a masthead, puff, coverlines , a main coverline and a main image.
Firstly the masthead XXL is written in capitals filled with dimonds and this relates with wealth and bling. The background of the masthead is red which suggests wealth and passion. The masthead is also quite large and draws the readers attention due to the style it has been made. This is then reinforced by the main image of Lil Wayne and Baby who are rappers wearing multiple chains(bling) and props. This also represents the sterotypical image of the rappers and meets the audiences expectations.
The background is hardly on display as the main image and the writing covers most of it. The main image of the famous rappers Baby and Lil Wayne topless suggests courage and them being tough. Also their pose/posture implies arrogance and also as they are looking down at the camera shows they seem more superior. Their bodies are covered with tattos which suggests wealth as tattos are very expensive and the chains symbolise wealth and the "gangster" image. This aspect of the main image meets the conventions of hip-hop and a hip-hop magazine.
The fact that Baby has his arm around Lil Wayne as if he is hugging him shows support and love for each other and protection which subverts black male characteristics but also the typical hip hop representations. The fact that Baby’s arm is around Lil Wayne creates positivity about hip-hop which shadows the negative stereotypes associated with hip hop through audiences awareness.
The coverlines of the magazine lists different music artists which show various artists that will be included in the magazine. This persuades audiences to purchase the magazine even if they aren’t interested in the artists in the main image, they may be interested in one artist included in the coverline therefore they would have to purchase the magazine.
There is also a puff included in the magazine which persuades audiences to purchase the magazine. One of the puffs “A decade of dominance” includes alliteration which makes it memorable and stays in the audiences mind. There is also another puff used "10th Anniversary”.
The main sell lines are also quite big and white, which draws the readers attention and is eye-catching. The sell lines meantion other artists and promotes them, they are all Hip Hop and R&B artists of the same genres. The slogan suggests they are the best as it says "survival of the fittest". Baby also has Lil Wayne's face tattoed on his chest and this could symbolise that he looks up to him and sees him as an idol/role model.

• Genre - Hip Hop
• Mast head - XXL
• Main image - baby and lil Wayne
• Cover lines - interviews with various artist
• Puff - our biggest issue ever a decade of dominance - alliteration
• Other images - background
• Typography - bold
• Props- hats, rings, chains and watches

Questionnaire results

Powerpoint Questionaire

View more presentations from guest3749edb.

Here are the results of my questionnaire presented in a powerpoint slideshow. My questionnaire consisted of 12 questions and I have used various different types of graphs to present my results.