Working with page plus: Designing a front page, contents page and double page spread for a new music magazine

Front cover:

I decided to create a layout my own issue of Q magazine in order to secure my knowledge of the codes and conventions of magazine as well as learn how to use the programme page plus.

My main cover star was Florence from 'Florence and the machine' which was also useful as she is a similar music genre and style to the one I want to create for my band.

Q magazine covers a wide range of music genres and adapts it's style to fit that of the artist or band. In this case, Florence's music genre is indie pop/rock so I decided to make the cover sophisticated through the simplicity of the image and style, meaning no over crowding. In the photography Florence looks relaxed but thoughtful, different from her usual quirky self, intriguing the reader to discover why. Although Florence isn't engaging in direct address, her obvious vulnerability allows the audience to empathise with her anyway. 

Being in black and white, the photo has a mysterious element along with emphasising Florence's class, implying a maturity which would hint to her fans she has been on some sort of personal journey, later revealed in the double page spread.

The masthead of Q is emphasised due to the minimal colour on the rest of the cover, important for the magazines personal image, and the colour scheme of red black and white is continued throughout the issue. With Q's house colour of red being the one to inject the life into the magazine, it not only keeps with the style of Q but connotes the passion Florence has for music.

Contents:

On the contents page, I create a collage of artists, whose pictures are all in black and white to sustain the elegance of the issue. I feel the collage works well due to giving a quirky and unique look to the page whilst also informing of the main features inside. This idea is one I hope to carry through in my own magazine as I feel it would be suited to the genre and is a good way to present the features

However to accompany this, I have a 'features' section in the top left to allow any others to be drawn to attention, such as those not specific to artists or a band, such as chart news. 

Colour scheme

Contents page analysis

Duffy, the main cover star of the issue, is also dominating here as the main image. Her playful persona suggest the lighthearted nature of the magazine whilst her pose gives the idea she is tackling an issue and fighting on.

There are other features on the magazine cover, with the page numbers being prominent to allow readers to find any features they are looking for specifically.

The contents page for Q magazine follows the bold and simplistic style seen on the front cover. The main stories within the magazine are listed as the 'features' with some of the more important incorporating images. The lack of colour creates a sophisticated look and also provides emphasis on the small amount of colour that is there.

Magazine cover - WE LOVE POP

Band name research

I decided to research some band name ideas, that i felt would be relevant to the genre and style I plan to make my magazine. From my previous research, I decided I would like to create a band that included a main singer with an iconic style who were supported by a band. Therefore, from the band name research i've carried out so far I like the idea of having a name with 'and the' in. However, memorable and meaningful band names have also been attractive to me, so I have written down a list of the ones I like most so far.

Marina and the Genre-Artist research

The second artist i chose to do research on was Marina from Marina and the Diamonds.

I am starting to like the idea of having a main singer with their own style and fashion sense, who are part of a band such as Marina and the diamonds or Florence and the machine.

Preliminary task

     

This is my front cover for my preliminary task.

I have included some of the features of a magazine such as: 

. The masthead - the masthead is relevant to the type of magazine and I chose the font I did as it gives the impression of being handwritten. As this 

magazine is 'for the students by the students' it creates ability to relate.

. The web address-  due to the rise in online media use, most magazines are now also available on a website 

. The left third - usually the majority of cover lines are in the left third of the magazine as this is where most attention is paid

. Cover star- the cover star draw immediate focus and is also making direct address with the reader which encourages them to buy and read the magazine

. Barcode- all magazines have to have a barcode as this is necessary for purchase

However, some of the features of a magazine haven't been included in my magazine, for example the date. Also many of my font choices are not corresponding with the style of the magazine, especially the one used on the main cover line, as it appears to fierce and harsh.

The preliminary task cemented my knowledge of the features of a magazine so will help in my final product as anything I have left out this time I will remember next time. 

Also, I like the idea of a 'handwritten' style font, so I may carry this through to use a similar style in my final magazine. 

Image for preliminary task

After taking a range of photographs, I decided to use either of these for my Preliminary task magazine cover, as they were taken from flattering angels that complimented the model.
However, i chose to use the top one in the end as i think her facial expression is more inviting and friendly. Also, her body positioning is better as it is more interesting than the straight on image.

Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine - artist research

To gain inspiration, I carried out some research into some of the artists who I felt carried out similar styles to the artist I plan to create, in order to gather information about their genres.

The first artist I decided to look at was 'Florence and the Machine' who falls under the genre of indie/alternative. In particular I looked at the lead singer Florence Welch as she provides the biggest impact on the group, via style, magazine covers and publicity.

I discovered Florence's style often varied between two main styles. The first of these being a soft gentle style often with vintage tones and calm facial expressions (relaxed, smiling) Or the second, and edgy, powerful look, where bright, bold colours are channelled along with sharp angles or serious facial expressions.

A mixture of these two styles can be seen in the collage I made below. 

For Florence Welch I feel the vintage tones work best for her music genre, making the black and white or softer coloured images the most suitable for her work. However, despite them being the overall style working best, my favourite image in the collage is the bottom right, as despite its edgy, modern style, the editing has created a relaxed tone. In a magazine it would be the image I'd choose to use.

Therefore, if my artist is going to be a similar genre to Florence and the Machines, I will be more likely to consider softer tones but with a modern style.

Below are some examples of the magazines Florence Welch has appeared in. Although they're not all music magazines, they give an idea or the image she portrays to the readers of the issue as well as clues to her personality.

In this issue or vogue, we can see Florence in a very powerful stance, showing the attitude we would expect to see from her, but also carrying herself in a very ladylike manner. I like her fashion sense in this photograph, but don't think high end fashion would be suitable for the artist I have in mind at the moment.

Here, her glamorous style is still presented, but in a more relate able way, that allows her to appear like a 'regular person.' This down to earth characteristic often makes an artist more likeable due to more people feeling comfortable in relating to them and looking up to them. However, the mild direct address and blocking causes there to appear to be a lack of her individual style and personality injected into the cover.

 In my opinion, this cover portrays Florence's personality the most accurately. The medium close up with direct address shows her confidence and power immediately, with her fiery hair connotating the expressive part of her personality. On the other hand, the hand shielding her face slightly shows vulnerability and a protective nature, making her seem able to relate to, yet a good role model.

Band/Artist image research

Whilst trying to decide the genre I feel I could best create a magazine for myself, I chose to look for images of 'possible artists' that I felt were inspiring. Although these images are not of actual singers, the styles they are portraying are useful for me to decide the style I feel best suits the magazine I wish to create.
I love all of the images in some way, as they each offer a different vibe. The black and white images create an edgy yet modern and cool look, whilst those in colour offer a more quirky vibe, with creativity.
All of the pictures share some common ground; they all portray 'attitude' and a 'care free' tone to their characters. I think I would like these qualities to be replicated in my band or artist rather than the 'squeaky clean' of a pop singer as it appears less realistic.
Therefore this exercise has helped me narrow down my genres, as well as begin to decide on the image of the band or artist- Carefree, down to earth, with all or some of the edgy/modern/quirky vibes portrayed above.

Spin magazine music analysis

I decided to look at the music magazine 'Spin' as I was intrigued by the genre varieties presented in the different issues. The magazine is able to adapt its style to cater for the opposing genres due to its simplistic style and versatility.
Other than the masthead, the colour scheme is back and white, injected with colours to match the cover stars music style. However, the fonts and colour blocking used portrays power, suggesting those on the cover possess confidence and strength as an artist.
On the first magazine cover, Haley Williams, the rock band 'Paramore's' lead singer stands in a aggressive stance to mirror the control and power of the magazine style. Also, her clothing matches the general black and white theme leaving her hair to inject the colour. By doing this, the attention is drawn to her and focus' on her as an artist but also highlights her simplistic beauty with her fair skin connotation innocence to contrast her fiery hair colour. Therefore, although her stance is in agreement with her fiery hair colour, the cover line 'Sexy doesn't have to be tan, blonde girl showing off her goodies' shows her classy demeanour and lady like intentions.
The second magazine is a completely contrasting genre and personality. The artist on the cover shows a quirky side to herself through the use of clashing bright colours along with a stance to provide 'attitude.' Her two tone lipstick could connotate different sides of her personality; orange to connotate the fiery, outgoing side whilst pink the feminine, fashionable side. The edgy clothing and pose, create an immediately recognisable image that reveal many aspects of her personality as well as possible music style before even knowing the artist well.
Both artists show confidence and power through their use of direct address and determined facial expressions along with the previously discussed aspects.
My reasons for analysing Spin magazine is because I wanted to explore how the magazine manipulated its style to support each genre and which I felt worked best.
Although both magazines are successful in their suitability for the genre, I think the powerful blocking and fonts work best along side the rock genre of 'Paramore' whilst the 'rap/hip hop' genre would be better suited to a brighter, edgier layout.

Billboard music magazine

I decided to do research into Billboard magazine as I felt the magazine covers would provide influences into my own work.

The music genre included is  mainly chart (pop) music and follows most of the typical codes and conventions. 

In the first magazine cover of Lady Gaga, i like the incorporation of the colours on the magazine cover with her vibrant hair colour. I also like the idea of the main cover star being central to the cover, as it focus' attention on them. 

In the Coldplay cover, the use of the graffiti wall suggests the new path their music may be trying to take as they have often been seen as a rock band but this suggest the more alternative element of their music taking the forefront.

All of the covers are a modern style, which is what i intend to do in my own magazine, to portray the intentions of the artist as well as relate to the target audience. 

I would say the target audience of billboard magazine is from teenagers around the age of 16 up to adults around 25 years old. This is because the layout is mature and not sprawled with teen artists. Also, it doesn't advertise gossip on the lives of the stars, but rather an insight into their style and an update of the chart music.

Not being genre specific, the magazine focus' on the news for each genre, particularly the charts.

This can help me as I can see the ways magazines meet the needs of their target audiences.

Music magazine analysis

For each magazine, we were given the name, main cover star and genre and then had to create cover lines and other features for the magazine.

Typography task

The coverline font should create a link between the magazines style and the main cover stars personal image. Therefore, with the magazine style being urban but chic, and in this image, the cover star is presenting a modern, powerful personality.

The cover line font should therefore be, urban but powerful and modern to create a relationship between the two. I think the fonts that best do this are B, E and F as they all have an urban edge but all connotative being powerful in different ways.

In my opinion the font that works best is version E as its similar to the masthead font but also is sharp suggesting the modern powerful aspects of the cover stars personality. I also think font B would work well due to the bold letters at the beginning of each word showing power whilst the rest has an urban feel.

Magazine layout practice

I practiced making a mock up of a simple magazine layout to get to grips with the general skills i will be required to use later in the creating of my own magazine cover.
Firstly, I used the graphics software programme 'Paint.net' to put together and manipulate the images. This included the removal of white unnecessary background and the rearranging of layer to place one image above another.
After this, i exported the file to another software programme of 'Microsoft Publisher' in order to add more text to the image.
The developing of these skills will make my future use of the programmes easier and less demanding.

Q magazine cover analysis

I have analysed this magazine cover to become comfortable in identifying the features of a music magazine cover, in order to ensure i include them in my own magazine.
Although previously i analysed a cover for the main features of a magazine layout, these feature go more in depth of the thought process behind a magazine setup, including the models body language and shot set up.

Student magazine audience research questionnaire analysis

I conducted a questionnaire in order to find out what the target audience of my Student magazine would expect a STACS magazine to look like.

The first question I asked was what they would expect to see on the cover of a STACS magazine. Many would expect it to reflect the school through the use of the school badge, containing important news for the school and to be set out in a bold and formal manor. However, 20% of those questioned did suggest they would like the cover to be bright and interesting, containing images of students and 'fun' story lines. 

Another one of the initial questions asked what colour scheme they would expect to be used. 100% of people who completed the questionnaire thought that red black and whites should be used with the majority also expecting the house colours to be incorporated.

On the questionnaire I decided to ask if students were enjoying sixth form so far as this would give me an idea of how they view the sixth form, if the majority view it positively, it is more likely a positive portrayal of the school in the magazine will be accepted. It was pleasing that every single student admitted to be enjoying sixth form so far.

When asked about the improvements, the students all gave positive feedback, with most enjoying the change into one lunch that lasts an extra 10 minutes than previously. The positive feedback can assist me in decisions for the magazine as it gathers information of what the students like.

Although 60% of those asked were unable to think of any further improvements for the school, of those who could, more variety of food available in sixth form was common, for example: pot noodles. Another good suggestion for improvement was the idea of harsher punishments for bad behaviour to enable a smoother running school. These suggestions could be ideas to be spoken through the magazine and possibly campaigned for, if enough people got behind them. It gives an idea for a feature of  'Student voice' where students will be able to express their views and ideas.

To give me ideas for features for a school magazine, I decided to enquire as to what their favourite part of school life was.
I have presented the results in a bar chart as it accurately shows the divide of opinions, as well as making clear that sport is a winner amongst many students. This suggests that regular sports features would go down well.

As I thought a feature on teachers would be enjoyable to readers, I decided to gather information on the favourite teachers within the school so I would know which ones would be a popular choice to include in the magazine.
I've presented it as a pie chart to divide the percentage of those mentioned in a clear manor.


'What features would you expect/like to see in a STACS magazine?' was another of the questions asked. A variety of answers were provided with the most common including:

• Upcoming events
• Features on students and teachers - staff profiles
• Gossip sections
• Competitions, prizes and give away opportunities 
• House updates
• Surveys to discover what the students and parents think of changes 
• Interesting facts
• Trips
• Sport results

Then when asked what would encourage them to read a STACS magazine they said that competitions would play a main part in them reading. Other ideas included their being parts of the magazine that suited different social groups. It was a popular idea that if they were allowed to read it during form time, they would be more likely to do so.

Billboard music magazine analysis

The Masthead of the magazine is 'Billboard' which suggests that the magazine has a large audience due to a wide range of people seeing it- as they would a billboard. The masthead is also partially covered by the main cover image, which is of the star of the issue of the magazine. As the image of Katy Perry is an irregular feature it takes priority over the masthead as all readers can acknowledge it immediately despite only seeing part of it.'Billboard' is written in strong bold letters to ensure it is recognizable as the masthead, any other text, even if large or bold, is written in softer lettering.

Above the masthead, there is a 'skyline' to advertise one of the features inside the magazine, in this instance it is 'Sheryl Crow' and only a small amount of information about the feature is revealed. To those interested in her work, as most of the readers would be (due to being in the target audience), this is enough to interest them to buy the issue.
In the main coverline of the magazine our attention is immediately drawn to 'Katy Perry' written in large letters to ensure that the readers are aware this issue of 'Billboard' is centred around her. In the quote of 'Inside the court of the queen of pop' we anticipate revelations about her inside which intrigues readers to find out more.

The main cover image is Katy Perry covered in flowers, these could symbolize her genre of music, which is mostly pop, as well as that the issue is the 'spring' edition. Katy Perry's outfit is also flowery and young, which relates once again to her music style as well as her bubbly personality. We are drawn towards her through her eye contact with us but through her facial expression we see a vulnerability that links to the promised revelations within the issue. It seems as though she is opening herself for people to discover what her lifestyle is like.

Often, colours can be used to reflect the personality of the cover star. By using a pink background it can connotate that sweetness and nurturing side of Katy Perry. One of these connotations can also be 'Pink is a non-threatening colour seeking appreciation, respect and admiration, we could relate this once again to the main cover line and interpret that her revealing parts of herself are in order to be accepted and looked up to.

There are four sub feature headlines, to give insight into the contents of the magazine. These are designed to excite the reader and encourage them to buy the magazine. In one of these sub feature headlines a chance to win a prize is offered, but details will be inside only. A rhetorical question about Taylor Swift is also present, posing questions in the minds of the readers.

Another feature also has attention drawn towards it through the circling of it in a bold colour. It is also placed on a slight angle in comparison to the rest of the text, making it appear to be an 'added extra' or even 'breaking news'. In this case its 'Chart heat' that is the 'splash' of information provided and the readers believe it to be a bonus feature.

Olly Murs website link

This is a link to Olly Murs' official website. He's one of my favorite artists as he is dedicated to his music and performs brilliantly live.
http://www.ollymurs.com/gb/home

My First Post

Hello, I'm Rian Doherty and this is my AS media blog.