1st Draft of Contents Page

Contents Page Images

Evidence of Magazine Edits

Evidence of magazine edits from MayaYeshitila

1st Draft for Double Page Article

1st Draft of Front Cover

Chosen Front Cover and Double Page Images

The reason why I chose this image to be on the front cover is because out of the other images I had taken for the front cover, this was the one image where the girls were pouting correctly and were standing in a way that makes them come across strong and confident. I felt their eyes in the other pictures were squinting at times as well.

I feel this image is a more relaxed image of them, especially with one of the girls leaning on the other girl's shoulder. It's more comfortable which makes the readers feel at ease with them. The image is more relaxed because of the girl smiling as well as her resting her head. 

I decided to use this image for the double page as well as the above image because this image sums the girls up. The image shows both personalities; they can be relaxed and act like teenage girls (which they are) and they can also be serious (which they have to be when they're in work mode).

Front Cover and Double Page Photographs

Photograph Planning

When it came to deciding location shots, I wanted there to be a plain background so it doesn't the distract the reader away from the main artists on the front cover. So in a classroom, I set up a green screen and got my main artists to pose in front of it so when that when it comes to editing I can play about with different background colours.

With props, I didn't want there to be a lot of them around within my shots. The less things going on in the image, the more attention there will be on the artists themselves. The only prop that I used was a chair which one of the girls from the main cover was sitting on on the picture used in the double page article.

When it came to deciding who I wanted to be artists on my magazine, I had to make sure they looked the right part. I asked for them to dress according to the type of artists I wanted them to be. With the boys, (Tristan, Michael, Fela) I didn't want them to look like how typical young, black boys would look so I wanted them to dress smart casual but I wanted them to enforce some youth into their image as I still wanted them to fit in within my target audience age range. The adding of the snapback and the bomber jackets I feel made them look their age. When it came to the girls, I wanted different looks for them all. On the contents page, I wanted the single girl (Stephanie) to look sexy but without the need for revealing clothes. I wanted her stand out as those girls that doesn't use their body to grab the attention of the audience. The use of direct mode address I felt would be enough for the type of artist I wanted her to be. When it came to the girl group, I wanted them to dress their age and look stylish. I wanted them to incorporate the current trend in the fashion world within their age range. For the main artists (Sarah, Bukola, Hannah), I wanted them to look sexy but also look confident. When it came to the clothing of them, I didn't want them to dress how girls in the music industry typically dress. I wanted them to look sexy fully clothed but draw the readers in through their eyes. The slight squint in some of their eyes and the pouting of their lips will give them attitude.

The media equipments being used are a digital camera so I can take good quality pictures and also view my pictures after I've taken them so I can decide whether or not I need to take more or improve on that particular shot. Along with the green screen, I used lighting so the girls can stand out more on the page of my front cover. Some of the shots taken were taken on the camera stand so I could get a clear, straight picture of my artists.

Peer Assessment

This peer assessment was done by Sage. He gave me a generous mark as I feel my magazine still has a lot of work to do.  I am going to enforce some of his improvements such as buzz words and the re-positioning of the title block. In terms of the contents page, I am going to align the articles. Graphic features are also something I would include as I could place the buzz words on the graphic feature making them stand out on the page.

This peer assessment was done by Joseph. He gave me a lot of constructive criticism which I am going to enforce such as the slogan for the magazine and adding text alongside the artist names on the front cover so the reader knows what article about the artist is.  From what his evaluation is telling me, my front cover needs more work than my contents page as the front cover is obviously going to be the first thing that the audience will see and so the front cover needs to look attractive and eye-catching. I feel Joseph's feedback will help bring that attraction.

Original Article Draft

The UK’s answer to Destiny’s Child; Sarah, Hannah & Bukola or Ebony Align, as they’re known by their fans, have had a whirlwind of a year. Slowly they’re making a big impact in the music industry, here’s their exclusive interview with BEATS on all things Ebony.

Your career is going from strength to strength. You've recently finished your summer festivals from Reading Festival to Glastonbury and your first single has gone to number one. Did you ever imagine any of this happening to you?

Sarah: No way! Never in a million years!

Hannah: We literally sang together to have fun, we never thought that we would sing for a career.

Bukola: We were preparing for our A-Levels and were planning to go down the academic route and go onto university. Becoming a girl group was never our initial plans.

What made you decide to become a girl group?

Bukola: My uncle is a small time producer and when he heard us singing he thought we had something that should be heard on a bigger platform.  He encouraged us to upload videos of us singing online and from there that’s how people started to know who we are. We sing covers of other artists’ songs but we would put our stamp on it by maybe adding some rap into it our changing the words so we can sing the song as if it was personal. Our current record label came across us on the internet and wanted to hear us out and see if we could make a career out of it.

Sarah: I thought A-Levels were scary but that was the scariest thing ever. We didn't want to embarrass ourselves so we put our all into that.

Hannah: We’re grateful that someone saw something in us.

How do you feel being called ‘the UK’s Destiny’s Child’?

Sarah: When we sang we would think we were Destiny’s Child. I was always Beyoncé [snaps fingers and laughs].

Bukola & Hannah: [shouts] I was Kelly!

Hannah: No I was Kelly; I've got the short hair!

Bukola: The amount of times we've argued about this is actually hilarious.

Sarah: I think we are similar to Destiny’s Child in a way. They had a strong ethos for female power and independency and that is what we want to represent. We want to be the logo for female power because we have a first-hand understanding of the struggles females go through.

What do you mean by that?

Sarah: We've been raised by single mothers with no male adult role model and we know we’re not the only ones that have been raised under these circumstances.

Bukola: Our mothers had to support us financially and emotionally as well as themselves in order for us to have a good life.

Hannah: We owe our mothers everything.

Do you like the way female artists are being presented in the media industry?

Sarah: Personally I feel that female artists shouldn't feel the need to wear minimal clothing in order to be noticed or in order to get attention.

Bukola: Music should be about the lyrics and the meaning behind it and not what a person wears.

Hannah: Plus I don’t think our mothers will let us parade around in our birthday suit [laughs].

How would you describe your clothing style?

Sarah: We've grown up wearing high street clothing. So we usually tend to shop in places such as Topshop, New Look, River Island, etc.

Bukola: We’re all about the fur and bandannas, especially Hannah.

Hannah: Don’t hate, appreciate! Anyway, aside from that, [rolls eyes at Bukola] if it’s casual the denim jeans and trainers are out. But when we've got a reason to dress best believe we go all out. The heels, the hair, the make-up, everything; we don’t mess about. [All laugh]

If you could have any career aside from singing, what would it be and why?

Bukola: I've always been interested in criminology. I had a phase where I would constantly watch all the CSI’s so CSI New York, CSI LA, CSI Miami and CSI all of it. I feel like it’s a job that will never get boring because of the types of cases you deal with. The final outcome, so when you discover the cause death and paint a scenario for what’s happened, is always the most intriguing because it makes you think how far people would go to end someone’s life.

Hannah: I feel a bit boring saying my career choice. [Bukola laughs] Well I've always enjoyed maths so I wanted to go into accounting and finance but I'm not 100% sure because I don’t think I will be able to handle a desk job. I can’t stand silence. I spent a week in Barclays Bank for work’s experience and I swear the only voices I could hear were mine and my mentor’s. I couldn't hack it.

Sarah: I'm the only one that still isn't sure what they want do as a career. I don’t really have a strong subject where I would actually want to take it that one step further. I would need to look at the options I have and choose something that would seem like it would interest me. I never really sat down and mapped out my future.

What can we expect from your first album?

Sarah: We've been able to get collaborations with two big names in the industry right now but we’re not allowed to say who. But what I can say is that it was such a shock to think that these artists wanted to collaborate with us because they have collaborated with a LOT of people in the industry.

Bukola: Our album is full on R&B. It’s the genre we’re familiar with, seeing as we've grown up with the genre of music playing around us. We've got the slow jams going on and some upbeat songs which you can dance to in the clubs.

Hannah: We've written 3 of our songs which are included in the album and in the songs we talk about different things. There’s a song that’s about the struggles single mothers have, which we feel a lot of people can relate to because that’s how they grew up. We've got another song that is about female independency and how women don’t need men. That’s kind of what we’re representing as a group because we feel women objectify themselves to men when they don’t need to. The other song that we wrote is one of the upbeat songs which is basically saying forget about the stress from the week and turn up for the weekend.

What is the biggest thing you would like to happen to Ebony Align?

Hannah: I wouldn't mind having a sold arena concert because at least then you know you've made it. I wouldn't mind having a sold out tour but that’s just me being ambitious.

Sarah: I think making it in the states would be a massive thing because of the fact not a lot of British acts make it. The biggest current one I can think of is One Direction but when it comes to female girl groups, I don’t think any has anything like that but they are getting there slowly. I think America needs us to be honest.

Bukola: To still be in the industry in say 10-15 years and to have a global fan base would be amazing.

What can we expect from Ebony Align in the future?

Hannah: We’re going to going around the country  to do some appearances to promote our new single ‘Hear Me’ then in March 2014 we’re going to have our first tour hitting all the major cities around the country.

Sarah: We’re really excited for it all.

Bukola: We hope all our fans come to see us during our tour.

Contents Page Mock Up

Front Cover Mock Up

Plan For Artist

·       

     The artist that will appear on the front cover of my magazine is a girl group called Ebony Align.

·       They’re from East London. These girls were raised by single mothers and looked up to their mothers for what they have done for them and for what they have given up for them. 

·         

They represent girl power and feel that women shouldn't subject themselves to men. They want to make a difference to all females and make them feel empowered and that they can do anything they put their mind to.

·         

They don’t believe that they should gain media attention through the lack of clothes they wear but through the actual lyrics and what they represent.

·         
      They will challenge the stereotype of female artists in the music industry due to what they wear, what they represent and what they sing about.

Front Cover Mood Board Analysis

This is an analysis of the mood board I created. The mood board consists of different magazine covers that are based on RnB and Hip Hop. 

Title Block Poll Analysis

Title Block Design Options

Below are 4 options for the design of the title block for my music magazine:

All 4 of the designs are different in terms of the style but I feel they all have some link to the genre of my magazine. I wanted the colour of my title block to be black as I feel it coincides with the genre of my magazine.

Title Block Analysis

 

I think the genre is pop due to the design of the title block. It looks young and fresh which relates to the target audience.

 

With red being the main colour, it reflects on the type of artists that are involved in the magazine. Red is a bold, striking colour which means that the artists involved in the magazine are popular and mainstream.

The way the title block has been designed is similar to the way American jock uniforms are designed. So with that being said, the target audience for the magazine would be teenagers, starting from the age of 16.

I think the genre is popular music because ‘Q’ has another connotation of ‘que’ which means to wait in line. So if you were to put these definitions together then it can be suggested that the magazine may deliver new up to date music and releases of new albums, songs, etc without the need for people to wait for visual adverts, i.e. television.

 

With red being the main colour, it reflects on the type of artists that are involved in the magazine. Red is a bold, striking colour which means that the artists involved in the magazine are popular and mainstream.

 

So in terms of the genre, we can say that the target audience would be between the ages of 16-25 as that is the age group who relate to the genre. However, as the magazine talks about other things such as, gig reviews and live concerts it could also appeal to those of an older nature.

 

Due to the Rolling Stone being the name of a mainstream band in the 60s, from that you can tell that the music genre of the magazine would also be mainstream rock.

 

The boldness of the red used highlights the fact that the music genre of the magazine is rock. It comes across as strong which could reflect on the type of artists that appear in the magazine.

Due to the name of the magazine, I would feel that the target audience age-wise would be those who were born around the 60s. Also those who are into rock would be the target audience for the magazine as the music genre for the magazine is rock. However, it doesn't mean that the artists that appear in the magazine are all from the 60s or fit into the rock genre category. For example, one issue had Lil Wayne who was not around in the 60s and doesn't do rock. So based on all this, I would feel the target audience would be for those from the age 16 and above as they are the ones who would buy music magazines and would be interested in finding out more about their favourite artists.

Final Proposal and Audience Profile

FINAL PROPOSAL

 

Below is the final proposal for my music magazine. I have answered a range of questions which will help people understand what my magazine will be about.

Evolution of Britney Spears Analysis

Analysing the different cover issues of Britney Spears helped me understand how a person can be portrayed based on the angling of the camera, the lighting, the person’s facial expressions as well as their costume. It made me think about how I want the cover star of my magazine to be portrayed as well as the portrayal of my magazine.

The image angle is a bird’s eye view. You can tell this as she appears to be lying on a bed and in order to get the image taken while she’s lying on the bed in to take a bird’s eye view shot. With this shot, you can see most of Britney’s body, along with a costume, the props used and the pink bed spread that she is lying on.

Britney is wearing her lingerie which consists of her underwear and bra and she has a white school shirt on which is unbuttoned and opened so you can see her bra and her toned body. Her underwear and her bra contrast in terms of representation as the black bra gives of a more mature representation whereas the underwear reminds people that she is still young. The picture suggests that she is trying to provoke a sexual reaction from the audience as she is not fully clothed. This image will be appealing to the male audience as they picture was obviously taken this way to get men to like her. However, females, especially teenage girls, might also use this image as a body inspiration. As Britney was 17 years old when the picture was taken, they might aspire to that body as she is of similar ages to teenagers and as she is in the public eye.

The props used in the image are a teletubies teddy which she is holding. This prop tells people that she is still young as teletubies is associated with a kids television programme. The telephone that she is holding up to her ear in the other hand however conveys a different message to the audience. Her mouth is opened which again shows she’s trying to be sexy.

The setting of this image is on a bed with a silk, pink bed sheet. This connotes a sexual image to the audience.

Men would be attracted sexually to this image whereas females would be envious Britney is young, beautiful and she has a body that most females would aspire to have.

The black bra compliments the polka dots on her underwear. Some fashion experts say a woman wearing black implies submission to men, which would make sense as she is dressed and is posing this way to a get a reaction from men rather than females.  The white on the school shirt she’s wearing symbolises innocence and purity which contrasts the way she is being represented through the rest of her outfit. The pink on the bed sheets represents romance and charm. It may also convey playfulness or tenderness. This colour is commonly preferred by young girls to show that they tender and soft.

 

Britney is less than half naked. She is wearing white underwear with a pink lining and is covering her chest with a sheet. In this image she is trying to get intimate with the reader.

She’s in a closed room, which adds to the intimacy of the shot.

The high key lighting makes the picture more honest which adds to the intimacy.

The only colour used is white (and the pink on her underwear lining). The white symbolises innocence and purity. The little pink used represents romance and charm. It may also convey playfulness or tenderness.

The use of black and white is useful as it shows the emotions on her face and makes her look innocent. The image is in low key lighting which makes the image appear dramatic and conveys a lot of atmosphere and tension which is reflected through the text alongside the image which says ‘BRITNEY SPEARS INSIDE AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY’.

Britney wants a close relationship with the audience and is shown through the close up of her face. She’s baring her emotions to the audience so they can understand how she’s feeling with everything that’s happened to her.

Focus Group and Response

Below is a video of the focus group that I recorded. I asked the focus group questions that I am going to take into consideration when it comes to producing my magazine. With my focus group within my target audience age range, it means the feedback they give me on my magazine plan will help me to attract my audience even more.



The focus group told me that setting the price at £2.50 and making the magazine a weekly release was to expensive especially because of my target audience being teenagers. They said I should either lower my price or extend the issue release. Due to this feedback, I am considering to change my magazine release to either a fortnight release or a monthly release.

Audience Questionnaire and Results

The question ‘what gender are you’ has given me the information that I shouldn’t produce my magazine towards a specific gender as there have equal amounts of responses from both males and females. Producing my magazine this way will increase my target audience and allow both males and females to read my magazine.

From this question, I can design my magazine towards a specific music genre. For example, RnB, Rock and Indie were the 3 popular music genres that my respondents listened to. Using this information, I will include articles and stories that involve artists from within these music genres. However, it doesn’t mean that I can’t use any of the other genres as the options that I had given are popular music genres and none of my respondents had selected the ‘other’ option which means these genres are popular within my respondents.
 

‘Social media’ was the popular option from my respondents. I can use this information in the contents of my magazine. Seeing as social media was the popular response, I can include a social media page which includes media sites such as Twitter, and include people’s tweets about the song they are currently hooked on or include tweets from artists letting their fans know about upcoming singles and albums.

Most people from my respondents don’t read music magazines but there was only a difference of two. I can use this information to attract readers to my magazine by making it more eye-catching and make sure there is something for everyone in the magazine. With more people not reading music magazines, I can at least produce my magazine on more platforms than a magazine. I can make my magazine accessible online and on an app as well.
 

 

Kerrang was the most popular music magazine read by my respondents. I have to make sure I include something for those who like the rock genre as Kerrang is a rock magazine which was the popular option and also rock was one of the top three music genres listened to by my respondents.

‘Artist on the front cover’ is what attracts my respondents to a magazine the most. I have to make sure that when I am designing my front cover, I have to include an artist(s) that is currently big in the charts or popular within the music industry or someone who is up and coming into the industry.

‘Free goods’ was also popular along with ‘design & layout’ so I have to enforce these options in the magazine somehow. E.g. if I was to put an up and coming artist on the front cover of the magazine, I could give the readers a free CD which would attract readers to reading my magazine and also promote the artist at the same time so they would have more of a listening/fan base.
The design & layout of my magazine must stand out to my audience and attract them to reading it. I have to make sure I don't go overboard with the colours and make sure the font is readable and doesn't cheapen my magazine.

A monthly issue was the most popular option from my respondents. So if I was to make my magazine a monthly issue I would have to include a lot of articles and stories, etc. to make sure that my readers keeping reading my magazine every month. 

However  a weekly issue was the second popular option and if I was to make my magazine a weekly issue, I would be able to include all the latest stories and trends which will keep my readers hooked onto my magazine, which will make them more eager to read my magazine every week.

£1-£2 and £2-£3 were the popular options but the price of the magazine will depend on how often the magazine would be released. If the magazine was to be a monthly issue, I would charge my readers around £3-£4. If the magazine was to be a weekly issue then I could charge my readers around £2-£3. The price would also depend on how much things would be included in the magazine. But also the price I end up making my magazine will have to coincide with my taget audience. As my target audience is between 16-24, I have to make it afforable as majority of them would be students and so wouldn't have the budget to afford paying more than £4 for an issue.

 

‘Interviews with artists’ was the popular option form my respondents. In order to find out what artists my readers would want to be interviewed, I would include a twitter account (which is one the popular social media sites currently) and allow the readers to tweet me their answers so I know who my readers like and so I don’t waste my time and their time with an interview people don’t want to know about.

Looking at the responses to the question, I think I would use all these options in the magazine as they seem to be wanted by the respondents and also enforcing these in my magazine will gain me more readers as there would be something for everybody.

Most of my respondents want the magazine to be accessed online which I would do so my magazine can be accessed on different platforms. Also, with my magazine being accessed online, it means that my audience will be getting the latest information in the music and won't have to wait weekly or monthly for the magazine issue.

Initial Magazine Plan

Below is a screen shot of the plan for my magazine. As you can see, I have thought about what I want in my magazine but I haven't been able to decide on the price I am going to set for it. I am going to ask my focus group what price out of the options below would be better for my magazine and decide on from then.

Magazine Institution Research

Below is a power-point of the research I have done on Bauer Media Group, IPC Media, Immediate Media and Development Hell Limited. This research was helpful as it would help to decide which institution will publish the magazine I'm going to produce.

Conventions of a Double Page Article

Conventions of a Double Page Article from MayaYeshitila

Double Page Spread Analysis (NME magazine)

 

The artist featured in the article is Angel Haze. This suggests that the target audience will be females but she would relate more to those who have a similar story as her own. As she has been sexually abused and been suicidal many times in her life and there are people in this world who have been through these things in their life and would be able to relate to her and look up to her as she is in the public eye.

The article is almost educating the reader as they are being told about the artist’s life and how she’s developed because of that. The reader has been told about her upbringing and how difficult that has been for her as no child should have to go through what she has been through.  However the language used doesn’t make the story negative but a positive as the artist has become a better person because of her life experiences.

A standard colour of black has been used, which allows the reader to not get distracted by many colours and allows them to concentrate on the article. However there are a few uses of red which contrasts the colour scheme and stand out. The red could connote passion, which is shown throughout the article.

A standard font has been used which makes the article readable and doesn’t cheapen the magazine with unnecessary styles of fonts. It also allows the reader to focus on the article and connect to what the artist is saying.

The first page of the double page spread has an image of the artist, and the second page has the actual article.

One page is taken up by an image of the artist and the other page is taken by the text from the article.

I feel the magazine addresses the reader as a member of an ‘in’ crowd. It’s as if they are inviting us to be a part of Angel Haze’s life as we go on this journey throughout the article from when she was young and lived within a religious cult and was a sexually abused, to her life on stage and the connection she has with her fans, to when she is helping those people who have gone through what she has been through or are going through it now. The magazine turns the artist’s life into a positive and she has come out better on the other side and can learn and grow from her life experiences and also used her experiences in her lyrics.

The one image that was used is a mid-shot of the artist accessorised with a Versace chain, glasses and a black hat. As the artist is wearing glasses, we don’t really know if she’s looking directly at the audience as we can’t see her eyes. As an artist, she has put on a character which is shown through the image but the background she has come from and the things that have happened her to have no link. It’s as if she’s giving some sort of hidden message that you can go through anything and still come out on top, which she is living proof of.

Both the heading in the article and the text on the front cover of the magazine are similar in the sense that the texts have both been written in bold and take up a good amount of the page.

The article gives a brief background of the artist and the life she lived when she was younger and before she hit the spotlight and so demand for any prior knowledge isn't necessary. However, the reader might need some knowledge on religious cults and how that affects people. By doing this they can understand what she says in the article but it's not a necessity.

Front Cover Analysis (NME magazine)

The magazine is a music magazine. The front cover tells me that there is going to be lots of information about artists and the latest information surrounding their musical career along with interviews with artists.

The target audience for the magazine would be those who are interested in the music industry and want to find out what’s going on with an artist. Are they releasing new music soon? Have they got a tour coming up? It would also be males due to the design of the title block and the layout of the front cover.

The central image is using direct mode of address, where the person in the image is looking straight at the reader. The direct gaze helps simulate interaction with each individual reader.

This tells me that the artist on the front cover wants a close relationship with the reader.

Franz Ferdinand is on the front cover and they have given their fans exclusive tracks on a CD which has come with the magazine along with a track-by-track guide.  

The anchorage text says ‘Back with a bang’. This implies that Franz Ferdinand (the band on the front cover) are re-entering the music industry with a big impact.

The overall message the band is giving is that they are trying to say that their music is going to be better than it has been and going to hit the industry hard.

‘Exclusive’ is a buzz word that was used on the front cover. This is telling the audience NME are the only magazine that's going to be covering the story and so will make the reader more interested to read it as they won’t be able to get the story from elsewhere. However, on top of an exclusive interview, NME have also given their readers ‘exclusive tracks and rarities’.

The title block is the largest text on the front cover which has been designed big and bold. The title block being designed like says that the magazine is quite masculine and is aimed at men.

NME stands for New Music Express which connotes that they have new news surrounding artists, be it information about music releases or tour information. As the M in NME stands for music, this means that their magazine isn't specific about the genre of music they include in their magazine which makes it variable to readers and attract a wider audience.

The main font colours used are white, red and yellow. The colour background of the magazine is white. Some of the texts have been written on top of blue and purple background colours. The use of many colours brightens up the magazine making it stand out in newsstands and not blend in with the other magazines. They brighten up the magazine as well so it doesn't look dull and also makes it more appealing to potential readers. Even though more than 3 colours have been used, it doesn't look tacky as the colours used haven’t c lashed with each other but instead complement each other. The colours used are neither feminine nor masculine. This tells me that based on the colours used on the magazine; it isn't specifically aimed at a particular gender even though it actually is aimed at men. The font used is a standard font which makes the text clear and readable. It also prevents the magazine from looking tacky. The magazine is eye-catching because of the big fonts used.

The strategy I think the magazine used to attract the audience was giving the reader of the magazine a free CD. This will give the reader an incentive to buy the magazine as they would be getting something extra alongside the magazine.

Contents Page Analysis (NME magazine)

The magazine uses images and the images used in the contents coincide with the articles that are mentioned. For example, there is a picture of the artist Angel Haze, which tells the reader the article is going to be about her which is clarified with the very brief summary of her article headline underneath her picture.

The images used coincide with the articles involved so it doesn't really say much about its style however due to there being more male images than female and the audience for this magazine is males and so it supports my initial findings.

The colour of the text is black but the number pages have been coloured red. This use of colour technique makes it easier for the reader to find what it is they are looking for. It supports style of the front cover as the colours used in the contents page are used on the front page.
Different types of font have been used. There is a use of bold and standard font text used which helps differs each article from the other.
The contents page differs from the front cover in the sense that the front cover is big and bold and colourful as it should be as it has to attract readers but the contents page is a bit standard which helps the reader find the article they want to read without getting distracted with anything in the page or finding it difficult to find.

The page has been organised in 3 columns. The articles haven’t written in chronological order but are jumbled around. However, the size, colour and boldness of the article pages allow the reader to find the page they want as it is viewable. The main articles have images so the reader can know without reading who the article is about.

¾ of the page is taken up by the big article features and the other ¼ includes a promotional feature and a smaller contents page which includes extra things for the reader to do such as crosswords, reviews and gig guides.  The sections that comes first on the contents page are those that are of most relevance to the magazine. The artists mentioned in the contents page also reinforce the genre of the magazine.
In the bottom right hand corner of the page, there is a red box that tells readers that they can ‘subscribe to NME today and save up to 38%’. 

Conventions of a magazine cover

Below is an analysis of the magazine VIBE. In the analysis I talked about the main conventions of a magazine front cover and explained how affective they were in terms of attracting the target audience.

Prelim: College magazine contents page

Below is the contents page of my college magazine. I thought carefully about what the readers would want within the content of the magazine and so put in things that I thought was key and was something that I thought the readers would be interested and would have found useful.

To create the contents page, I used Photoshop. I simply used an image that I had taken of a school playground and made it the background of the page. I thought it was best if the article names were placed down the middle of the page so it's in direct vision for the audience. I placed the other images and motivational words around the article names so it stands out.

Prelim: College magazine front cover

As my magazine was based around school, I thought it would be ideal to have a picture of a student as the central image of the magazine. Even though the picture doesn't fit a typical school themed magazine, I thought the image was the better option for the magazine so it doesn't put students of from buying it. I thought it would be better if the central image was something that would gain attention from readers and make them inclined to read the magazine.

To construct the front cover, I simply used the image which I had taken myself using a digital camera, and uploaded it onto the front cover which I was creating using Photoshop. Using Photoshop, allowed me to experiment with different filters, font sizes and styles. I decided to go with a standard font style as I thought if I was to go overboard with the different styles, it would cheapen my magazine and potential readers wouldn't want to read my magazine. 

The image on the front cover is a mid-shot picture of a student. The student in the picture goes to a sixth form which is shown through her smart dressing.