Questionnaire

4) What do you like about your chosen music magazine?
responses for question 4;
''seem interesting''
''interesting interviews''
''nice pictures''
''latest celebrities''
''top charts''
'' I like the genre''

6) What else would you like to see in music magazines?
 Responses for question 6;
''Gossip''
''pictures''
''CD's''
''latest articles about celebrities''
''Top charts''
''competitions to meet idol''
''digital download codes for new songs''
''more free posters''

7) What don't you like about other magazines?
Responses for question 7;
''don't know''
''boring''
'' too much text''
''not as appealing''
''genre of the magazine isn't interesting to me''
''too childish''
''unattractive celebrities''

First music magazine draft and analysed

This is my first draft music magazine. I have included all the conventions of a typical front cover; masthead,  house style, web address, sell lines, page numbers, main image and feature images, banner, USP, bar code, price, date and a skyline.

 

I looked at another recent pop magazine and used conventional colours like pink and white, these colours are central in pop magazines because these colours represent young girls (target audience). White is a nice contrast to pink also could connote pure and innocence.

 

I called my magazine ''pop girl'' because its a pop magazine and it's a stereotypical magazine for girls. I chose the colours to be pink because it's a conventional colour. I also shadowed the font with purple to look more professional and lastly stroked it with white because conventionally top of pops is always stroked in white this makes the masthead appeal the audience quicker. The font style is quite feminine and looks like a young girls fancy hand writing. This font also connotes happy and joy because it's bubbly and curly.  The masthead to be behind the models head is also a conventional technique this connotes that the model is featuring/promoting this magazine company.

 

The sell lines are white to stand out on the pink background and the slang language like ''pics'' and ''celeb'' is also a conventional way to inform the readers this is because the audience are young and this will make the audience feel comfortable and happy. The page numbers beside the sell lines are also conventional and it helps the readers to quickly skip the pages in the magazine to the topics they'd like to read. The explanation mark beside the two sell lines connote excitement. The pull quote underneath the banner is in pink because it stands out from her white background.

The two feature images were separately edited and then put on the cover this is because I wanted it to look professional and not messy. Pictures of boys appeal to young girls a lot so I took a picture of a boy form my class to make my cover look conventional, I also put a box around him stroked with pink because it's a conventional technique and I think this makes the picture of the boy to stand out. The small feature image of Emily at the bottom is informing the audience what the magazine includes about her, however I do wish the lighting of that image was a bit better she looks quite orange due to the lighting in the photography room.

The main image was a practise photo shoot but because I didn't have time to take another neither did the model I ended up choosing this image to be my main image, and luckily she's wearing white because conventionally female stars that feature on a front cover are always wearing neutral colours to connote purity and good. It would have been better if she was wearing a dress to look sophisticated and elegant. The posture connotes confidence.

The price is £1 because Emily is new feature to the magazine and people would be less interested as she isn't popular but the price would make the magazine worth to buy. Also it's not a conventional price however I believe that pop magazines are expensive especially if the young girl has to buy it put of her pocket money. I made the font size of the price big and bold to appeal the audience eyes.

The USP is in a shape of a circle stroked with yellow and white and the background pink to stand out. I chose to giveaway nail varnish because it's quite a conventional free gift.

The banner is in pink and stroked white similar to the masthead this is so that it will appeal to the audience quicker. another appealing text is ''world exclusive'' black and yellow is conventional for this text. I chose to place the text on top of the name banner because I saw it another magazine.

 

 

Double page spread analysis (Pop music magazine)

There are allot of conventions on this double page spread such as heading, sub heading, images, pull quote, page numbers, columns and house of style. Double page spreads are usually interviews about the celebrities personal life.

The heading is in white and stroked with purple. Purple is a conventional colour to represent young girls and white connotes fresh and healthy. The font of the heading is big and solid to connote muscly and strong. The heading ''workout'' will appeal to the audience as they would like to know how to keep fit because it's peer pressure for young girls too look good. However this heading is a contrast to the main image as they're not muscly and big,so what could the article be about?

The sub heading mentions ''P.E class'' and a ''sick note from mum'' this instantly represents the young audience who are at high school. The font colour pink also represents young female audience. The white background behind the the sub heading connotes innocence. The rule of thirds (columns) is a conventional way to layout the page, this makes the page look more professional and neat.

The interviewers choice of language like ''boys'' , ''aaww'' and ''girls'' etc represents the audiences dialect to make the readers feel comfortable and interested to the interview. The word ''boys'' connotes young if the interviewer said ''men'' the readers wouldn't like to read on as it wouldn't relate to the young girls and stereotypically ''girls'' and ''men'' isn't a good combination. The names of the interviewees are highlighted in pink to stand out this could also suggest that a girl could only like one or two boys from  this band and would only like to read their responses, therefore the highlight makes it easy for the readers. conventionally pull quotes were also used to connote the importance of their response and to make the page look more appealing and fun. On the third column the sub heading is ''you're gorgeous too!'' the font of the sub heading looks like someones handwriting this connotes that boys wrote their personal message to the young girls to excite them the use of an explanation mark also supports my connotation. Pull quotes are in white font to contrast the oink or purple text box. The purple and pink coloured text boxes make the page look more appealing and feminine.

There are 3 images. One main image in the centre of the page conventionally on a double page spread the article is on the left page and the picture in full size is on the right page. The main image in the centre of the page would attract the readers before they read the article. The boys look relaxed and happy to connote that they're proud of their body. Another small image of Max in between the columns also breaks the conventions of a double page spread because usually there's just a pull quote in a big shape of a circle etc. Last image on the right top corner of the page is similar to the main image it's just that the boys are in a different posture.

Conventionally page numbers are there, this is to make it easy for the readers to find the page quicker. Web address in the pink highlight at the bottom of the page connotes importance. ''exclusive interview'' in the top right corner would make the readers feel happy because this article wouldn't be published anywhere else so this will make the readers feel lucky to read their favourite boy bands article.

Pop magazine contents page analysis

There's no institutional logo ''Top Of Pops'' or ''Contents'' heading this breaks the conventions of a magazine contents page however ''inside the mag...'' connotes informality and represents the young audiences dialect, this makes it easier for the readersto understand and creates comfort.

 House style- Bright and soft colours are used through out the magazine to connote fun, the blue to represent One direction. The pink and yellow connotes comfort and excitement for the readers to read, it also suggests that it's important and it must be read! Pink is a key colour as it represents young girls and it also contrasts with the images.

Images; were used such as clothes accessories and make up to appeal the young audience and it fits in the category of fashion. The one image of the boy band at the bottom of the page suggests that they're not very important but they are another boy band that's being featured. The picture of the magazine front cover is also in the contents page with page numbers in big fonts and arrows to inform the audience and to make it easier for the audience to follow.

Mode of address-  It's very informal to appeal the younger audience, this will make the audience feel comfortable. This also proves that the target audience are young females this is demonstrated on the first and third column ''we love shopping'' & ''we love boys''.

Rule of thirds-   The page is split up in 3 columns to make the page look more neat and professional. This is also quite conventional as it makes the page look more appealing.

Sub-headings-  The sub headings on the contents page is a conventional technique to categorise the information and columns it also makes it easier for any readers. The subheadings are bold and in a separate text box to stand out to take the readers attention. The font of the writing is serif which means fancy/posh font to represent the female audience, the swirly alphabets connotes a girls handwriting and therefore represents the female audience again.

Page numbers- Page numbers are very important and conventional for the contents page. Page numbers are to guide the readers around the magazine and also saves the readers time, page numbers beside the front cover is in a much bigger font than the information in the columns this could imply the target audience's personality such as; big, powerful and exciting.

This is a much more complete front cover. I kept all the conventions and just added the skyline, page numbers and price. I changed the fonts of the sell lines so its less boring and more handwritten to imply that the magazine is more diary like so that the readrers feel comfortable to read the magazine. The us of double explaination marks connotes more excitement and shocking. I also kept the page numbers beside the sell lines and it's conventional to be small and black font. The ''OMG'' is still the same but in bold to make it more dramatic. I moved the web address to the bottom and placed the price at the left top corner because it's cheap it's big and bold to appeal the audience to buy it because conventionally the price is £2.35-2.99. If I chose the price to be £2.35 it would be near the bar code. The tag line is now bold and in a serif font to tell the audience it's a magazine but not a simple and boring magazine. The sky line is in white sroked with black to give the connotations of importance the white connotes poisitivity and good music.
I changed the splash colour to pink because then it's consistant in colour it also matches the the masthead and that's imporatnt because Pop girl is promoting a new artist. The pull quote has been changed to a handwriting format however I couldn't do it black because it doesn't stand out because her jeans are black so I needed the pull quote to be bright as possible because it's this story that's interesting the audience to buy the magazine, I chose the quote to be ''How I became a star'' because it sounds influencial. The USP is smaller but the same and placed on the left side. I could add more sell lines and feature pictures to make it look more exciting and fun.

Sample frame shots for draft music covers

These photos are for my first draft and I conventionally have done 3/4 frame shots leaving a bit of space at the top for my masthead.

This shot is a good medium close up, there's no shadows and he's making direct address to connote confidence.

In this frame the lighting is good. Pictures of boys is conventional for music magazines because boys attratct girls quicker.

This is a good posture as she is still making direct address and smiling. The lighting is also there's no shadows but her hair coukd have been more neater because it was hard to edit.

This shot is also a good photo however if her hair was a bit more neater so it would have been easier to edit.

This is a medium close up however there's shadow on her face

.

This is a good shot of her and a very conventional pose as her hands are on her hips. The lighting is good and also making direct address.

This picture is blurry and not good the lighting is wrong.

Analysis of the second draft

This is the second draft of my music cover.  I have included the basic conventions such as masthead, bar code, main image, USP,   pull quote and website address, however I haven't included skyline, price and date and other feature pictures therefore my cover looks incomplete and plain. For the main image it's 3/4 medium frame shot this is a conventional frame shots for nearly all music magazines this angle allows the audience to see the facial expression and their clothes. I have chosen a girl to feature my front cover because pop female singers represent younger female audience and therefore can relate to the audience. I could also have a male pop singer but he has to be young and good looking to appeal the audience. I ave also included the sell lines because they're conventional as it appeals the audience to buy the magazine to read more. For my masthead I have used the colour pink because stereotypically pink is a girls colour, the font looks like a hand writing and age appropriate. This font connotes bubbly and fun this creates an effect on the audience because it looks fun.  I have outlined the masthead to make it obvious and exciting, the stroke effect is also conventional but the stroke would be white to connote positivity and purity and not black. The masthead should also be behind her head because the main image is promoting the magazine and in that way the magazine becomes well known and popular.  The ''OMG'' effect inspired me from another pop magazine it's in caps and a shape to give the effect of importance and shocking. This word is abbreviated and matches young teen audience's dialect this is important because the audience feel relatable and comfortable to read the magazine because it's appropriate. The name of the artist is in a big font and outlined in black to keep the colour consistant. The pull quote is in pink but not appealing this has to be more bold and exciting because this is the main story for the magazine.  I need to include the price and date near the bar code, it's usually written in a shape to make it more clear but because it's expensive the price is little and un-noticeable.